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THE LAW 
OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



BOOKS ON CHURCH POLITY 

by 
WILLIAM E. BARTON 

POCKET CONGREGATIONAL MANUAL 
Cloth, $ 1 .00 Flexible Leather, $ 1 .50 

THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 
8vo, Cloth, $2.50 



ADVANCE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
Chicago 

THE PURITAN PRESS 
Sublette, Illinois 

THE PILGRIM PRESS 
Boston 



THE LAW 

OF 

CONGREGATIONAL 
USAGE 



BY 
WILLIAM E. BARTON, D. D M LL. D. 

LECTURER OH ECCLESIASTICAL LAW IN CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY, AFFILIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO; MIN- 
ISTER OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS; EDITOR OF 
THE ADVANCE 



CHICAGO 

ADVANCE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

SUBLETTE, ILLINOIS 

THE PURITAN PRESS 

1916 






Copyright, 1915 
By WILLIAM E. BARTON 



'■1 



:/• 



DIA42Q8 

JAN 12 1916 



1 



w ' « 



^ 



THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH 
ESTEEM AND APPRECIATION 
TO 
FRANK K. SANDERS. CHARLES S. NASH. WILUSTON 
WALKER. FRANK KIMBALL, NEHEMIAH BOYNTON. 
WILLIAM W. MILLS. HENRY A. STIMSON. OLIVER 
HUCKEL. LUCIEN C. WARNER. CHARLES S. MILLS. 
ROCKWELL H. POTTER. JOHN M. WHITEHEAD. 
HENRY M. BEARDSLEY. HENRY H. KELSEY. EDWARD 
D. EATON, ARTHUR H. WELLMAN. RAYMOND CAL- 
KINS. AND TO THE MEMORY OF SAMUAL B. CAPEN 
WHOSE LABOR AND FELLOWSHIP I SHARED 
DURING THE THREE YEARS OF THE WORK OF 
THE COMMISSION OF NINETEEN ON POLITY. I9I0-I9U 



PREFACE 

It is now a full half century since Dr. Henry M. Dexter 
published his "Congregationalism: What It Is; Whence It 
Is; How It Works." During these fifty years several 
briefer works and one large volume on our polity have ap- 
peared, but nothing that takes the place of that notable 
treatise, now long since out of print. If any other anni- 
versary than the semi-centennial of Dr. Dexter's great book 
were needed to suggest the fitness of a modern work on 
the subject, such an event could easily be found in the 
swift approach of the Ter-centennary of the Landing of 
the Pilgrims. 

Many changes have occurred in our polity in the last 
fifty years. Other changes, doubtless, will occur in the 
years to come. Ours is a growing polity, and the time will 
never come when it can be treated as a completed study. 
But the notable changes wrought by the National Council 
in 1913, and the general plans for the missionary organiza- 
tions adopted in 191 5, register the logical consummation of 
some movements that have been in evolution among us, 
and enable us to know in part and to prophesy in part. Our 
denominational development may be considered as having 
arrived at a degree of completeness so far as these recent 
changes are concerned. There is not likely to be a better 
time than now for the consideration of our progress as a 
denomination in the matter of government and adminis- 
tration. 

Five years ago the author issued his pocket Congrega- 
tional Manual, now in its seventh edition. The present 
work is not designed in any way to make that book less 
necessary or useful than it has proved to be. Very few 
paragraphs are identical in the two books. The present 
large volume leaves three of the four divisions of the 
Manual untouched — those on Parliamentary Law, Docu- 
mentary Forms, and Orders of Service. This book is in 



viii THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

some sort an enlargement of the remaining section of the 
Manual, that on Congregational Theory and Practice. In 
this regard it sustains to the author's Pocket Manual essen- 
tially the same relation that Dexter's "Congregationalism" 
and Ross's "Church-Kingdom" sustained to their respective 
Handbooks. 

Yet this is not all the author has endeavored to accom- 
plish in the present work. Ever since the publication of 
his Pocket Manual he has cherished the hope and purpose 
of writing a book which might show not only what Con- 
gregational Polity is, but also how it has come to be what 
it is. Some of our denominational methods can be rightly 
evaluated only in the light of their development. Some of 
our present customs may not be permanent; and if we do 
not return by the way whence we have come, a knowledge 
of that way may at least assist us in our progress toward 
a more stable method. 

This book is not a history of Congregationalism, nor 
even a history of Congregational Polity. But it seeks to 
set forth current Congregational usage with a sufficient 
historic background to afford a basis of judgment concern- 
ing its progress. To this end, the principal topics discussed 
contain not only the author's own judgment of current 
usage, but also quotations from eminent authorities, both 
of the present and the past. In many instances these quota- 
tions express the same general view as that of the author, 
and tend to establish a consensus of opinion. In other 
instances they are quoted as showing how customs have 
changed or are in process of changing. It is earnestly 
hoped, and fully expected, that no careless reader will re- 
gard the author as undervaluing the contributions which 
earlier writers have made to Congregational Polity because 
in some instances he records a different method than that 
which they recorded. As they set forth faithfully the theory 
and practice of their own day, so the author endeavors to 
do in his day. As not everything recorded by them proved 
permanent, so not every method or custom herein recorded 



PREFACE ix 

will be permanent. It is enough if each in his own day 
perform a needful service. 

A word may be said as to the literary form in which the 
subject matter is presented. Each topic is introduced in a 
question. This method is chosen partly because of the 
advantage of a direct approach to the topics considered, 
and partly because many of these topics came to the author 
in this form, and are therefore actual questions that have 
risen in the experience of pastors and churches, some of 
them not answered adequately in books hitherto available. 
While the author has not been unmindful of the possible 
disadvantage of following this method throughout, and 
might have preferred in the case of some of the topics to 
have employed another form, it has seemed well to follow 
a uniform style with respect to the introduction of the sub- 
jects. In the later editions of Dr. Dexter's notable work 
appeared an appendix containing a list of questions which 
had been propounded to him in the years of his useful serv- 
ice to the churches, and these with the answers form an 
exceedingly valuable part of his book, as all who have 
used it are aware. Recent years have given rise to many 
questions, and perhaps there is no principal topic in Con- 
gregational usage which has not been presented to the 
author at one time or another. In the five years since the 
Pocket Manual was issued, he has been called into counsel 
in the matter of the organization of churches, and of the 
reorganization of district associations, state conferences, 
and the National Council. This service, as it has been as 
varied as it well could be, and it is hoped that the author 
has been able to put into this book some principles which 
he has learned out of a somewhat wide experience, and 
which will prove of real value to others. 

A large portion of this book consists of actual questions 
that have been asked by ministers and churches, and the 
actual answers that have been given them. The people who 
asked the questions did not know that they were contrib- 
uting to the making of a book, and were less careful to 



x THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

divide their questions from all others that might have been 
asked than they were to get the information which might 
meet their immediate requirements. In the editing of the 
material, an effort has been made to eliminate needless 
duplication; but I have still preferred to treat each case 
with adequate fullness, even at the risk of incidental repe- 
tition, than to bring the subject matter into too severe 
bondage to precise logical division. As a consequence, there 
are not many cross-references in this book, a feature which 
I hope will be counted a sufficient virtue to excuse what- 
ever duplication of material may appear. 

I have not labored to make this book large, but to keep 
it within reasonable limits of size. I realized at the outset 
that the volume would be large, and must be large ; there is 
no call for another small book on this topic. It is large; 
but there lie before me two piles of manuscript, one of that 
which goes into the book, and the other of what I had 
gathered for it but have been able to eliminate, and the pile 
that is not to be printed is larger than the other. Doubtless 
I should have done better had I interchanged some of the 
material in the two piles ; but I have done my work under 
the pressure of many burdens, pastoral, editorial and pro- 
fessorial, and if I had waited and sorted till the work should 
have been perfect, it could never have appeared in print, 
and meantime would have been growing till the reading 
world of church polity could not have contained the books 
that might have been made of the material. 

Let me call attention to the indexes, for on them I have 
spent much labor, and I wish the reader to avail himself 
of its results. This book is primarily a text-book, covering 
the whole field of the theory and practice of self-governing 
churches. But it is also a work of reference, intended for 
the man who wants information on a single point, and 
wants it quickly. For his sake I have made a table of con- 
tents containing not only the chapter-headings, but the full 
list, with folio numbers, of the questions treated under each 
general caption. This in itself will be, I hope, a quick guide 



PREFACE 



XI 



to the material of the book. As for that material itself, it 
is virtually a catechism, with practical questions, and direct 
answers, followed in some instances by quotations of 
authorities, quickly distinguished from the body of the text 
by a difference in type. There is also a full alphabetical 
index of subjects, more minute than the table of contents. 
I have added also a bibliography and a list of authors cited, 
and under the latter have given, not only the pages on 
which quotations from those respective authors may be 
found, but the matter treated in each separate quotation; 
so that if a reader remembers to have seen in this book an 
important quotation from an eminent authority, and that 
author has been quoted twenty times, the reader will not 
be compelled, as I sometimes have been in the use of other 
books, to make nineteen futile explorations before finding 
what he wants. 

The Bibliography and List of Authors Quoted do not 
agree. There are authors whose books I have had occasion 
to refer to somewhat frequently but from which I have 
made no quotations; and there are authors who have no 
proper place in the bibliography of this subject who never- 
theless have afforded an important quotation on some par- 
ticular topic under discussion. 

The reader will discover that in the latter part of the 
book I have given more space to the treatment of certain 
questions than the proportion which might have been indi- 
cated by the first part. The reason is that these more 
recent developments of our polity have little or no place in 
earlier books, and have seemed to merit some discussion 
and historical development. I have been less concerned 
with questions of proportion and consistency of method 
than with the attempt to give to those who are to use this 
book the information which they require. In matters long 
established among us, some things can be taken for granted ; 
but in matters recently adopted, or still in their experimen- 
tal stages, more of explanation, and even in some cases of 
discussion, appears to me desirable. 



xii THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

I have had free access to the Library of Chicago Theo- 
logical Seminary, and during my summer vacation to the 
Congregational Library in Boston. During the National 
Council in New Haven last month, I was able to steal a 
few precious hours from the meetings and to spend them 
among the books in Dr. Dexter's incomparable collection in 
the Library of Yale University. The time, painfully short, 
enabled me to verify some quotations from early authorities 
and to add a few others from superlatively rare books. For 
special courtesies shown me in these libraries, my hearty 
thanks are extended. But the conditions under which I 
have done my work have made it necessary that I should 
depend for the most part upon my own books. 

It is quite needless to acknowledge here the indebtedness 
of the author to those who have gone before him. That 
indebtedness will appear on almost every page. The 
method of the book is one that permits a partial acknowl- 
edgment under almost every topic ; but the direct quotations 
credited to their proper authorities do not fully measure 
the debt. Perhaps those who have contributed the most 
toward the making of this book, and who deserve the fore- 
most word of thanks, are the hundreds of correspondents 
in every part of the country who have asked these questions. 

One name, however, may and should be mentioned, that 
of Rev. John P. Sanderson, D. D., who twice read the 
manuscript, and whose counsel has been of much service to 
the author, as it will be to his readers. 

The learned Increase Mather closed the introduction to 
his "Disquisition on Ecclesiastical Councils" with the re- 
flection that "In those Regions of Light and Love which 
are Above, there is more knowledge gained in one Day 
than can be obtained in an whole Age of Reading and Hard 
Study," and expressed the hope that, having now rendered 
this service to the churches, he might soon be there, and 
learn more about many things beside church polity. Dr. 
Mather was seventy-eight when he wrote his notable work, 
and could well expect that this might be his last work. I 



PREFACE xiii 

am hoping to live long enough to learn much more than I 
now know. But I can quote with hearty concurrence the 
paragraph next to that which closes his introduction : 

"In the subsequent Disquisition the reader will not find 
anything of Satyr, or indecent Reflection on the Brethren 
whose notions are not the same as mine. I have endeavored 
to confirm what I assert with Scripture, and with Argu- 
ments, and the Authority of Eminent Divines, both Ancient 
and Modern." 

It has now and then occurred to me, while preparing 
this volume, that there might be some readers to whom 
this book would seem dangerous on account of its occa- 
sional departures from the earlier type of Congregation- 
alism so admirably set forth by Dexter and others. To 
these let me say that the system contained in this volume 
is no newer and no more dangerous than that of Dr. Dexter 
was fifty years ago. Indeed, I cannot better close this 
preface than by quoting the paragraph with which he him- 
self closed the preface to his Handbook. 

"Without doubt some person will allege this as a new 
endeavor to 'control' the churches. Such an allegation will 
be as true — and as false — as previous intimations of the 
same sort have been. He who waits to be insured that his 
good will not be evil spoken of before doing any, will earn 
neither thanks for today, nor remembrance from tomorrow." 

• WILLIAM E. BARTON. 
November i, 1915. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



I. CHURCH POLITY 

What is Congregational law? - 1 

Is reliance upon usage peculiar to Congregational churches? 2 

What is church government ? - - ~ 3 

What is church polity? 4 

What are the essential forms of church government? 6 

Is polity identical with ecclesiastical law? 8 

What is the relation of polity to creed? 8 

What is the relation between church polity and civil government? 8 

II. THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 

What is the basic Congregational principle? - 10 

What is the priesthood of believers? „ „ 11 

What is the autonomy of the local church? 13 

What is the principle of Christian fellowship? 14 

What is Congregationalism ? 15 

What is the significance of the term Congregational? 17 

How early was the name Congregational used? 17 

Why were Congregationalists called Brownists? 19 

Is Congregationalism a modern religion? 20 

How did Congregationalism reach America? 20 

What does Congregationalism stand for? 24 

Was Congregationalism originally democratic? 25 

Did Congregationalists believe in religious liberty? 26 

Did Congregationalists separate Church and State? 27 

What is the doctrinal emphasis of Congregationalism? 28 

Is Congregationalism an arbitrary system? 28 

Is Congregational liberty safe? 29 

Is Congregationalism a perfect system? 30 

Is Congregationalism effective? „ 31 

III. THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 

In what interdenominational bodies do Congregationalists share? 34 

What is the International Congregational Council? 34 

How large is Congregationalism? 35 

What is the polity of the Unitarian churches? 36 

What is the polity of the Universalist churches? 37 

What is the polity of the Baptist churches? 38 

What is the polity of the Disciples churches? 38 

Do Disciples churches have creeds? 39 

What is the polity of the Christian Connection? 40 

Is Congregationalism identical with independency? 40 

Has Congregationalism influenced other denominations? 41 

What is the Congregational attitude toward Christian union? 42 

Is Congregationalism favorable to progress? 44 

Will Congregationalism endure? 45 

What form of Congregationalism will endure? 48 



xvi THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

IV. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 

What is the meaning of the word "church"? „ 50 

Does the Bible use "church" of things secular? 52 

Who established the New Testament Church? 53 

Did Jesus use the word church? 54 

How does New Testament use terms "church" and "churches"? 54 

How was the Church related to the temple? 55 

What was the relation of the Church to the synagogue? 56 

How was the Church related to Gentile organizations ?_. 57 

Is the Church the embodiment of a social ideal? 59 

How were the New Testament churches founded? 61 

With what organization was the Church established? 61 

Did the apostles rule the churches? 62 

Had the apostolic Church a hierarchy? 64 

How were the New Testament churches governed? 64 

What were the officers of the Apostolic Church? 65 

Are we sure of the identity of bishops and presbyters? 66 

Did every church have a bishop and also presbyters? _ 68 

Why were there two titles for one office? 69 

What is the historic episcopate? 71 

V. ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 

How did the Church lose its apostolic simplicity? 73 

Did the changes begin soon? 75 

Did Jesus during the forty days establish a formal organization? 77 
When do we first find distinction between bishop and presbyter? 79 

Were the bishops successors of the apostles? 81 

Did the apostles invent apostolic succession? 82 

Who were the apostles in the second century? „ 84 

Was the monarchical episcopate Episcopal? 85 

How did the modern denominations arise? „ 87 

Is the papal form of government Scriptural? 88 

Was Peter the rock of the Church ?....., 90 

Did Jesus give to Peter the power of binding and loosing? 91 

Is the Episcopal system Scriptural? _ ~ 91 

Is there truth in the doctrine of .apostolic succession? 95 

Is the Presbyterian form of government Scriptural? 95 

What do Congregationalists teach concerning apostolic Church? 97 

Is Congregationalism Biblical ? ~ 98 

Is New Testament usage decisive? 100 

VI. THE MODERN CHURCH 

What is a church ? - 102 

What is the Church? _ 103 

Is the visible the same as the invisible Church? 104 

What is a denomination ? _ - 106 

What is a sect? -106 

What is a sectarian? --»--. 106 

Is it possible for any Christian to escape sectarianism? 106 

Is the Kingdom of Heaven identical with the Church? 107 

Is the church building the Church? 108 

Can a church exist without officers? 108 

Is there salvation outside the Church? -109 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xvii 

What is the Protestant Church ?..._ 110 

What is the Holy Catholic Church? Ill 

Can we depend on external authority? _ 112 

VII. THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 

Who may organize a church? 114 

How may a church be organized with a council? 114 

How may a church be organized without a council? 116 

How may a church be organized by an Association? 121 

How may a church secure fellowship? 121 

How is a Congregational church recognized? 122 

How may a church be disbanded? _ 123 

By what majority vote may a church disband? 124 

May two churches unite ? 125 

What are the rights of the minority in cases of merger? 127 

May a church divide ?. _ 128 

How may other churches become Congregational? 128 

VIII. THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 

What general rules govern church business? 130 

What is the jurisdiction of the local church? 130 

Are home missionary churches self-governing? 131 

What constitutes final authority? _ _ 132 

How should church meetings be called? 132 

How are special meetings called?. 133 

What constitutes a quorum ? 133 

May a meeting transact other business than that for which it 

is called? 134 

Who presides at church meetings? 135 

Must the presiding officer be a member of the church? 135 

Who presides at annual meetings? „ _ „ 136 

Has the pastor the power of veto? „ 136 

Do the majority rule ? ~ 137 

Is church business governed by parliamentary rules? 138 

Where majority leave meeting can minority transact business? 139 

Where the majority leave the church, which is the church? 139 

What rules govern annual meetings of the church? „ 140 

What business should be recorded? 141 

Who has a right to the church records? 141 

May church officers obliterate church records? 142 

What should be done with reports? 142 

How are votes taken in church meetings? 143 

Are proxy votes permitted ? 143 

Is irregular action invalid ? „ 144 

May a church hold secret meetings?. — 145 

Must every member of a church be informed of every meeting ?..145 

Should church business be regarded as confidential? 145 

May the church eject an intruder? — 145 

May a church silence a disturber? 146 

Who may expel a disturber? 146 

May women vote in the business affairs of the church? 146 

May minors vote in Congregational churches? 147 

May one person cast the ballot of the church? 147 

Have absent members the right to vote? 147 



xviii THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

IX. DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 

What is a church member? 149 

What is the basis of church membership? 150 

May a church determine its own terms of membership? ISO 

How is membership in the church secured? 153 

What is the propounding of members? 155 

May a church examine a member who unites by letter? 155 

What constitutes examination for membership? 156 

May a church receive a member without a letter? 156 

What constitutes Christian faith? 157 

Do members from other churches assent to the covenant? 157 

May members be received in their absence? „ 157 

May a church refuse to accept a letter? 158 

What are the duties of a member of the church? 158 

What are the rights of church members? 159 

What is good and regular standing? 161 

How are members dismissed? 161 

To whom may church letters be granted? 161 

May a church member terminate his membership at pleasure ?....162 
What shall a church do when a member unites with another 

church without taking his letter? 162 

May a member demit his membership? 162 

When may a church refuse to grant a letter? 163 

Are general letters to be granted? - 163 

May there be dismission to organizations out of fellowship? 164 

May church members be dropped? ~ 164 

May letters be granted without dismission? 166 

What is the status of dismissed members? „ 166 

May dismissed members vote? 166 

What is the status of a member who partially withdraws? . 167 

Should letters be granted to churches that will refuse them? 168 

What is the duty of a church to its absent members?. 169 

Shall a church receive members who cannot assent to its creed ?~170 

X. THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 

What are the officers of the local church? 171 

What are the duties of the pastor? 172 

What is a deacon? . — 173 

What is a deaconess? 175 

Should deacons be installed ? _ 176 

Should other officers be installed? 177 

What are the duties of the clerk? 177 

What is the duty of the treasurer? 177 

What is the duty of the trustees? 178 

May a church vacate an office? 179 

Were the New Testament deacons candidates for the ministry ?„180 

XL RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 

What is a religious corporation? 181 

What is a parish? . 182 

What is an ecclesiastical society?. — _ 185 

May a society exist without a church? 185 

May a local church exist without a society? ~~.«..- 185 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



What are the reasons for a society? _ 185 

What are the powers and limitations of the society? 186 

What are the relations of church and society? 187 

Should the minister attend meetings of the society? 189 

How may a church free itself from relations with a society? 189 

XII. AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS 

What are affiliated organizations? 192 

What is a Sunday School?.. 192 

What is the pastor's place in the Sunday school? 193 

How shall the church conduct the work of its women? 194 

What is the office of a brotherhood? _ 195 

Do these organizations exist for their own ends?. 195 

XIII. CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 

Who should be regarded as candidates for the ministry? 197 

What is a call to preach? 197 

What is licensure to preach? _ 198 

May a local church license a preacher? _ 198 

What body should issue license to preach? 198 

May bodies of ministers license? _ 200 

May theological seminaries issue licenses? 200 

Is a diploma a substitute for examination? „ 201 

Should licensure be permanent ? 201 

May an association license a lay preacher? 201 

May men be licensed without intent to be ordained? 1 202 

How shall a candidate for the ministry prepare himself for 

licensure? - 202 

What constitutes examination for licensure? 203 

Are licentiates members of the association?....; 203 

May licentiates be transferred to other associations? 204 

May licentiates be received from another denomination? 204 

May licentiates administer the ordinances? 204 

May licentiates solemnize marriages? 204 

May a license be terminated? 206 

XIV. THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 

What is a Christian minister? „ 207 

What is the work of the ministry? 207 

What is a Congregational minister? 208 

How may one enter the Congregational ministry? 208 

What is ordination? _ 209 

May a local church ordain? 211 

Is lay ordination valid ? 214 

Is ordination to be performed on Sunday? 216 

May a missionary society ordain a missionary? 217 

Does ordination create the right to preach? 217 

Must ordination be to the pastorate of a particular church? 218 

May an evangelist be ordained?. _ 219 

May a woman be ordained? _ 219 

Is public service of ordination necessary? 220 

Is laying on of hands necessary? 220 

Who may impose hands ? 221 

Is ordination valid if obtained under fraud? 222 



xx THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Is ordination performed by a packed council valid? 222 

Is there a distinction between invalid and irregular ordination ?„222 

Are ministerial orders indelible? : 223 

Is an ordinance valid if the minister who performs it proves 

unworthy? - i 224 

May Congregational churches provide for limited ordination ?....224 
How may a minister of another denomination become Congre- 
gational? _ 225 

Should a minister received from another denomination be re- 
ordained? 226 

May a Congregational minister join another denomination? 226 

Is membership in an association necessary to ministerial char- 
acter? 227 

How is ministerial standing maintained? 227 

How is ministerial standing impaired? 227 

Is there a distinction between ministerial standing and the min- 
isterial function? 227 

May a Congregational minister demit his office? 231 

Should a demitted minister be reordained? 232 

Should ministers in secular business retain ministerial standing ?..232 
What is the duty of a minister temporarily out of ministerial 

work? _ 233 

What is the status of a retired minister? 233 

What is the status of unemployed ministers? 233 

May there be distinctions in the Congregational ministry? 234 

XV. THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 

What constitutes a Congregational pastor? 235 

How is a pastor called? 235 

May a call be extended for a limited time? 238 

Do Congregational churches have ruling elders? 239 

What is a collegiate pastor? _ 242 

What is an assistant pastor? 242 

What is a pastor's assistant? _ 242 

What is an acting pastor? 242 

What is a pastoral supply? 243 

May a church employ a non-Congregational supply? 243 

What is the pastor's duty as preacher? 243 

What is the pastor's function as teacher? 243 

Is the Congregational pastor a prophet? 244 

What authority has the pastor?. _ 245 

May a pastor advise a child against the advice of the parent? 248 

What is the value of installation? 249 

Is installation a growing custom of our churches? 249 

Who may install a minister? 250 

What is the value of a recognition service? 251 

How may a church terminate a pastorate?. 251 

Should a minister stand on his legal rights? 253 

How may a minister terminate a pastorate? 254 

Is a dismissing council necessary? „ 254 

Is the advice of a dismissing council authoritative? 254 

Must pastoral conditions be ideal? 255 

How can a church be saved from an unworthy pastor? 256 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxi 

XVI. ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 

What is an ecclesiastical council? 257 

What is the meaning of "pro re nata"? 257 

What is the function of an ecclesiastical council? 258 

Who may call a council? 258 

Must all councils be chosen from the vicinage? 262 

How may a council be called? 262 

What should the letter missive include? 262 

How may a church facilitate the work of a council? 262 

Who compose the membership of a council? 263 

What constitutes a quorum ? 264 

May churches unable to attend council diminish the quorum? 264 

How is a council organized? _ „ 265 

What are the duties of the moderator of a council? 266 

What is the duty of the scribe? 267 

Does irregularity in invitation invalidate the council? 268 

What is the place of individual members in a council? 268 

May non-Congr-gationalists be invited to a council? 269 

Are individual members always ministers? 269 

Is a council composed wholly of ministers valid? 270 

Is a council of laymen valid? 270 

Should a council be called for licensure? 271 

May a council examine when not invited so to do? 271 

What are reasonable limits in examination of a candidate? 272 

Is a council a court? 273 

Is a council an appellate body? 274 

What are the sessions of a council? 275 

Should councils vote by churches? 277 

Should a council be addressed? 277 

What is the rinding of a council?. 277 

Is the decision of a council binding upon the parties calling it?....278 

Are councils more than advisory? 280 

May a council adjourn ? 280 

How are councils classified ? 281 

What is a mutual council? „ 282 

What is an ex-parte council? 282 

May a council increase or diminish its own membership? 284 

Is the conciliar system an adequate protection of our churches ?..285 
How may the churches control a council? 287 

XVII. THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 

What is an Association ? 289 

How did Associations originate? 292 

Have we District Associations or Local Associations? 294 

Is the Association a menace to local autonomy? 294 

Is the Association a voluntary body? 294 

What is a ministerial Association? 294 

Are ministerial Associations desirable? 296 

Should ministerial standing repose in associations of ministers ?..296 

What is a Consociation ? 296 

Have Associations definite territorial boundaries? .297 

How may a church unite with an Association? 299 

How may a church withdraw from an Association?.... 299 

How may a church be received from another ecclesiastical body ?_299 



xxii THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

How may a church withdraw from the Congregational denom- 
ination? _ 300 

May a church be a member of two Associations? „ 300 

Has an Association a right to demand creed tests of its mem- 
bers? „ 300 

May an Association withdraw fellowship from a church? 301 

What is the status of a church from which the fellowship of an 

Association has been withdrawn? „ 303 

What is the standing of ministers in the Association? 303 

Shall the minister vote ?. „ 304 

What is the place in an Association of the minister who is not 

a pastor? „ 305 

What is the status of absent ministers? _307 

May an Association incorporate? 308 

May Associations license candidates for the ministry? 309 

May Associations ordain? _ „ 310 

May an Association accept or reject members? 311 

Can an Association depose a minister? 311 

Is deposition by act of Association good Congregationalism?.— 313 
Is the increase of power on the part of the Association justifi- 
able? „ 317 

What are the rules of business of the District Association? 319 

What may an advisory committee do? 319 

XVIII. THE STATE CONFERENCE 

What is a State Conference? 321 

Is the Conference composed of delegates from Associations ?....321 

How many delegates may a church elect to a Conference?. 321 

Does ministerial standing repose in the State Conference? 322 

May a Conference invite corresponding members? 323 

May a Conference entertain an appeal from an Association? 323 

May superior bodies entertain overtures? 323 

May an appeal be taken from a Conference to the National 

Council? _ _ 323 

By what rules are Conferences governed? 323 

May a State Conference incorporate? 324 

How may state bodies consolidate? ~ 324 

Should both organizations be kept in existence? 326 

How may both bodies continue and work together? 326 

XIX. THE ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL 

May an Association act as a council? 327 

How may a church invite an Association to act in a conciliary 

capacity? 327 

Does a minister ordained by an Association become a member 

of the ordaining body ? 329 

May an Association dismiss an installed pastor? 329 

Do these new functions make the Congregational Association a 

Consociation? 329 

XX. ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 

Has a church a right to discipline one of its own members ?....331 

Has a church a right to discipline a non-member? 331 

Has a church a right to discipline its ministers? 331 



TABLE OF CONTENTS aoriii 

How should a church trial be conducted? - 333 

Is professional counsel permitted in a church trial? 334 

Should a church trial be conducted as in a court of law? ..334 

Must the whole church try an offender? _ 335 

May a member be granted a letter while under charges? 335 

May a member be dropped while under charges? „.335 

May a member be tried in his absence? 336 

Should a member guilty of crime remain a member? 337 

For what offenses may a church try a minister? 338 

Can a local church expel a minister? 338 

May a church bring action against a minister who is not its 

own pastor or one of its members? 340 

For what offenses may an Association try a minister? 341 

May an Association try a minister who is not a member? 341 

May a minister be tried by a Commission? — 342 

Can an Association expel a pastor? _ 342 

Does deposition from the ministry destroy church membership ?..343 

By whom may a minister be restored to fellowship? 343 

What is the process of trial of a minister?. 343 

May a church court censure a false accuser? 345 

May an Association delegate a trial to a Commission? 345 

May an Association try a member for heresy? 345 

May ecclesiastical trials be held in private? 346 

May a minister be tried by council? 346 

May a State Conference try a minister? 346 

May a National Council try a minister? „ 347 

May the results of an ecclesiastical trial be published? 347 

XXI. THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 

Have we sacraments or ordinances? 349 

What is the Congregational doctrine of baptism? 349 

To whom may baptism be administered? 349 

In what form may baptism be administered? — 349 

Did the early church practice baptism by immersion exclu- 
sively? _ _ 350 

May infants be baptized ? _351 

Should children of non-Christian parents be baptized? 351 

Should dying children be baptized? 352 

Do Congregationalists teach baptismal regeneration? 352 

What is the status of baptized infants? „353 

Who may administer baptism? „ 353 

Do Congregationalists acknowledge self-baptism? 353 

Do we acknowledge the baptism of other denominations? 355 

Is Roman Catholic baptism valid? 355 

Is baptism to be performed a second time? - 356 

Are sponsors permitted in baptism? 356 

Is the baptism of an excommunicated person valid? 356 

What is the Lord's Supper? 357 

What is the significance of the Lord's Supper? 357 

Are the bread and wine the real body and blood of Christ? 357 

How was the Lord's Supper regarded by the early church? 357 

Who may administer the Lord's Supper? 358 

How is the Lord's Supper to be administered? ~360 

What invitation should be given to the table? 360 



xxiv THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

May an unbaptized person partake of the Lord's Supper? 361 

May non-church members commune? „ 361 

Do Congregationalists practice close communion? — 362 

What kind of bread is used in the Lord's Supper? 362 

What kind of wine is used in the Lord's Supper? 362 

How often should the Lord's Supper be administered? 363 

May special communion seasons be arranged? „ 363 

At what time of the day should the Lord's Supper be admin- 
istered? _ 363 

Do Congregationalists observe an Easter communion? 363 

XXII. SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 

What is the Law of the Christian life? 364 

What is Christian worship ? 364 

What are the essential parts of public worship? 365 

What is the place of the reading of the Scripture in public 

worship? 367 

What is the office of prayer in public worship? 368 

May written or printed prayers be used by Congregationalists ?..369 

What is the use of singing in the church? 370 

Ought unconverted persons to sing in church choirs? 370 

What is the place of preaching in public worship? 370 

What is the Congregational doctrine of the Sabbath? 371 

How do Congregationalists regard prayer meetings? 371 

How do Congregationalists regard the week of prayer? 372 

Do Congregationalists observe holy days or fast days? 372 

How do Congregationalists regard Easter and Christmas? 372 

How do Congregationalists regard Lent? 372 

What is the attitude of the church toward current reforms? 373 

What is the relation of the Christian minister to marriage? 373 

Who may solemnize marriages? 374 

What should be the minister's attitude toward divorce? 375 

In what form should marriage be performed? . 375 

Is a marriage valid performed without license? 375 

Is a marriage valid when performed as a joke? _ 375 

Should ministers conduct funerals? 375 

May a layman conduct a funeral service? 376 

Should funeral services be conducted in the church building? 376 

XXIII. THE AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL 

CREEDS 

Is there a Congregational creed? „ 377 

How are creeds to be interpreted? 378 

Should creeds be used as tests? 379 

May a minister be expelled for heresy? 380 

What are the ethics of creed subscription? 382 

What creeds have grown out of Congregationalism? 384 

Does the preamble agree with the creed? 385 

Is a creed essential to a Congregational church? 389 

Is rejection of the creed a ground for expulsion? 390 

What is the nature of a church covenant? 392 

XXIV. THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 
Why was there no National Council in the beginning? 395 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxv 

What national gatherings preceded the National Council? 395 

How did the National Council originate? „ 400 

What was the difference between the National Council and pre- 
vious Synods? 402 

When did the National Council begin to enlarge its powers? 403 

How many National Councils have been held? 405 

Has the National Council any definite doctrinal platform? 405 

Who creates the National Council? 411 

Do delegates represent associations? 411 

May an alternate be displaced? ~ 412 

How are vacancies filled ? 412 

Must members of the National Council reside within the district 

which elects them ? 412 

May there be temporary alternates? 413 

What is the purpose of the National Council? 414 

If no delegate appears is representation lost? 414 

What is the corporation for the National Council? 415 

How is the National Council supported? 415 

What are the functions of the National Council moderator? 416 

What are the duties of the secretary of the National Council ?....420 
Is there danger that the National Council will commit the 

denomination to disastrous policies? 420 

The Constitution of the National Council 423 

The By-Laws of the National Council 426 

XXV. THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 

Through what agencies do the Congregational churches conduct 

their benevolent and missionary work? 

How did the interdenominational societies become Congrega- 
tional? 

Did these societies occupy distinct fields of activity? 

When was consolidation of the benevolent societies first con- 
sidered? 435 

Is the National Council competent to create a benevolent 

society? _ 436 

What is the American Board? 438 

What is the Congregational Education Society? 438 

What is the Home Missionary Society? 439 

What is the American Missionary Association? _ 440 

What is the Congregational Sunday school and Publishing 

Society? 441 

What is the Congregational Church Building Society? 442 

What is the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief? 442 

What are the women's societies? 443 

What is the American Congregational Association? 443 

What was the Commission of Nineteen? 443 

What is the Commission on Missions? 443 

What changes in the Missionary societies were wrought at 

Kansas City? 444 

What changes in the societies were accomplished in 1915? 445 

XXVI. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 

Can democracy be representative? 450 

What was the Tri-Church Union discussion? 452 



xxvi THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

I s Congregationalism representative ? 454 

Is Congregationalism provincial? _ 456 

Have we sacrificed democracy? 560 

What is the World Conference on Faith and Order? 465 

What is our attitude toward current movements for union? 466 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 473 

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 479 

GENERAL INDEX 487 



THE LAW 
OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



I. CHURCH POLITY 

What is Congregational Law? The Congregational 
churches recognize no human authority over and above the 
local church as competent to legislate for it in the conduct 
of its internal and spiritual affairs. There is, however, a 
law of Congregational usage. It recognizes statute law, 
parliamentary law, the general content of ecclesiastical law, 
and the body of accepted precedent and established custom 
of the Congregational churches. A complete codification 
of this body of law can never be accomplished, for the 
Congregational churches recognize the law of growth as 
truly as the law of precedent. Both in ecclesiastical and 
civil affairs there is a law which is more than the sum of 
all particular laws. While no book of Congregational usage 
can ever be final or even complete, it is desirable that from 
time to time there be new attempts to interpret Congrega- 
tional usage in the light of its development. The present 
volume undertakes to assemble in convenient form the 
general body of established rules and precedents which are 
accepted and now current in Congregational church gov- 
ernment. 

But that we may know what current Congregational 
usage is, we must often inquire how long it has been so 
and how it became so, and what it was before. We must 
avoid, if we are able, mistaking the weathercock for the 
compass. Our present usage is the result of changes, and 
other changes are yet to be made. It is always desirable, 
and often highly important, that we discover not merely 
the present position, but the direction, of progress. There 
is often a trend of custom which has in it a more irresistible 
sweep than formal legislation. We must seek to discover, 
therefore, by what customary methods our Congregational 



2 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

churches govern themselves and administer their common 
work ; and also in what fashion the methods of our present 
usage are related to the usage of the past. 

This plan of study ought to have for us a value much 
beyond that of mere historical research, though that is of 
no small importance; for it should afford us some indica- 
tion of what are likely to be the main lines of advance 
toward the future. 

It is seldom if ever possible for a church truthfully to 
assert concerning its polity or doctrine that that which it 
now holds has been held, "always, everywhere and by all." 
Few things appear to remain in an entirely static condi- 
tion, and Congregational usage makes no claim to being 
one of that few. But there is, and has been, a certain con- 
sistency of development — if we do not use the term too 
narrowly — and this constitutes, for the student of Congre- 
gational polity, the base line for a survey of what may 
properly be called the Law of Congregational Usage. 

Laws and Law. We commonly speak of both laws and law — the 
English law, and the laws of England; and these terms, though not 
used with precision, point to two different aspects under which 
legal science may be approached. The laws of a country are 
thought of as separate, distinct, individual rules; the law of a coun- 
try, however much we may analyze it into separate rules, is some- 
thing more than the sum of all such rules. It is rather a whole, a 
system which orders our conduct; in which the separate rules have 
their place and their relation to each other and to the whole; which 
is never completely exhausted by any analysis, however far the 
analysis may be pushed, and however much the analysis may be 
necessary to an understanding of the whole. — Geldart: Elements of 
English Law, p. 7. 

Congregational Law. Every association or union of persons in 
a company for an object implies a ground work of organization, 
with principles and laws; and therefore every church must have 
such a ground work. — Dexter: Congregationalism: What It Is, p. 1. 

Is Reliance upon Usage Peculiar to Congregational 
Churches? Reliance upon usage is in nowise peculiar to 
Congregationalism, nor is this system of church govern- 
ment foremost among those that rely on precedent. It is 
characteristic of the administration of law in general, and 
by some has been thought an especial characteristic of 
ecclesiastical law. As a matter of fact, the religious spirit 



CHURCH POLITY 



is not more bound to precedent than the spirit of secular 
government. The greater part of human law is precedent. 
Congregationalists hold that usage is subject to growth 
and normal development. The recent declaration of the 
Dean of St. Paul's can hardly be applied to Congrega- 
tionalism : 

The Tyranny of Precedent. There is no such hide-bound Tory 
in the world as the religious spirit. It is profoundly uncomfortable 
if it cannot find or invent a tradition of the elders to justify every 
article in its creed and every detail in its worship. — Inge: The 
Church and the Age, p. 58. 

The Right of Development. The Christian Church must be free 
at any period to adapt the fundamental principles which it derives 
from Christ to the exigencies of its life. . . . We shall insist in 
the name of the churches on absolute freedom to apply fundamental 
principles directly to present conditions, whatever may have been 
the usage of the fathers. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, 
pp. 2, 3. 

What is Church Government? The fellowship of churches 
expresses itself according to established forms, and de- 
velops along definite lines of progress. The authoritative 
expression and right interpretation of these forms in any 
church or body of churches constitutes for that church or 
body the system of its government. 

Every society of men, instituted for the attainment of a 
common end, recognizes certain forms of action as adapted 
to the securing of that end, and formulates its belief in 
the wisdom and value of these forms of conduct in written 
or unwritten laws. The power which is recognized in any 
state, church, or other organization, as that which has the 
prerogative of enacting and the authority of enforcing such 
laws, constitutes the government. 

A society without government has been the dream of 
theorists in many ages. These philosophical anarchists (for 
the term may be used without opprobrium) conceive of an 
ideal society in which harmony and protection might be 
secured without submission to law or obedience to author- 
ity in any form. Such a form of association has not proved 
practicable either in religious or political organizations. 
Therefore, in order to secure certain ends, recognized as 



4 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

desirable, governments are instituted among men, in church 
and state. These governments differ in their forms, but 
in the last analysis all human governments derive their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. 

Necessity of Government. Man is so constituted that govern- 
ment is necessary to the existence of society; and society to his 
existence and the perfection of his faculties. — John C. Calhoun: 
Works i: 4. 

Necessity of Church Government. The house of God must have 
orders for the government of it, such as not any of the household 
but God himself hath appointed. — Hooker: Eccl. Polity, iii: 11. 

The Parts of Church Government. Church government is con- 
sidered in a double respect, either in regard of the parts of govern- 
ment themselves, or necessary circumstances thereof. The parts of 
government are prescribed in the Word, because the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the king and lawgiver of his Church, is no less faithful in 
the house of God than was Moses, who from the Lord delivered a 
form and pattern of government to the children of Israel in the Old 
Testament; and the Holy Scriptures are now also so perfect, as 
they are able to make the man of God perfect, and thoroughly fur- 
nished unto every good work; and therefore doubtless to the well 
ordering of the house of God. — Cambridge Platform: i:2. 

What is Church Polity? The science of church govern- 
ment is called polity. Polity may be denned as the form 
or constitution of government of a nation, state, church, or 
other institution. Church polity is the aggregate of the 
recognized principles which lie at the foundation of the 
organic life of a church or body of churches considered as 
an organic unit. 

The word polity was originally the same word as policy. 
The two words still are synonymous, but not identical in 
meaning. Policy is a plan or method of management, a 
scheme, or adaptation of means to a desired end. Polity is 
a word of more fundamental and stable implication, and 
applies to the structure of government, the framework by 
which the several parts of a system are co-ordinated and 
united in a consistent and harmonious unit. 

The word polity is intimately akin to the word politics ; 
but the latter is more closely confined to secular affairs, or 
if used in religious matters is commonly applied in a more 
narrow and restricted, and often in an uncomplimentary, 
sense. "Church polities'* may be sometimes spoken of in 



CHURCH POLITY 



contempt, as of scheming and self-seeking in church affairs ; 
and even when not used in a bad sense commonly refers to 
matters of contest for power or place; but "church polity" 
is a phrase of noble significance, as of the science of church 
government, the broad basis of management in church 
administration. 

The words "polity" and "politics" are derived from the 
Latin politicus, which in turn was derived from the Greek 
politeia, whose root is polls, a city; and are words of gov- 
ernment. Policy, also, may be from the same root; but is 
sometimes derived from the Latin polyptycha, account 
books, or registers of taxes, or from the Greek poluptuchos, 
from polus, many, and ptux, leaf; referring to the many 
leaves of public registers. Polity as an ecclesiastical term 
has a far nobler connotation than either politics or policy. 

It would thus be proper to say that all the Congrega- 
tional churches have a polity which is essentially the same ; 
but that the policy of each local church is determined from 
time to time by that church for itself; that an ambitious 
man secures a coveted position by a shrewd stroke of 
church politics, but in defiance of the well ordered prin- 
ciples of church polity. 

Church Polity. Of properties common to all societies Christian, 
it will not be denied that one of the very chiefest is ecclesiastical 
polity. Which word I therefore the rather use, because the name 
of government, as commonly men understand it in ordinary speech, 
doth not comprise the largeness of that whereunto in this question 
it is applied. ... To our purpose therefore the name of church 
polity will better serve, because it containeth both government and 
also whatsoever besides belongeth to the ordering of the church in 
public. — Hooker: Ecclesiastical Polity, Bk. Ill, ch. i, sec. 14. 

Ecclesiastical Polity. Ecclesiastical polity, or church government 
or discipline, is nothing else but that form and order that is to be 
observed in the Church of Christ, upon earth, both for the constitu- 
tion of it, and all the administrations that therein are to be per- 
formed. — Cambridge Platform: i: 1. 

Our Sacred Heritage in Congregational Polity. That Controver- 
sies about Forms of Ecclesiastical Discipline, concern not the Es- 
sentials of Religion, but that Good Men may be of various Senti- 
ments about them; Salva Fide, et Caritate, is readily acknowledged. 
Nevertheless there ought to be a singular Regard unto Truths of 
this Nature, by us in New-England, above what may be affirmed of 
Men in any other Part of the World, since our Fathers were Perse- 



6 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

cuted out of their Native Land, and fain to fly into the Wilderness, 
for their Testimony thereunto: great were the Difficulties and 
Temptations, and Straits, which they for some time conflicted with, 
and all upon no other Account, but that so they might enjoy a pure 
Discipline and Church state, exactly conformable to the Mind of 
Christ, revealed in the Holy Scriptures. On which Account, for 
their Posterity to depart from what their Fathers have with so 
much Clearness of Scripture Light, taught and practiced, and con- 
firmed with so great Sufferings; must needs be a greater Sin and 
Provocation to the Eyes of his Glory, than may be said of any 
other People on the Face of the Earth. — Increase Mather: Disq. con. 
Eccl. Councils, i. 

What are the Essential Forms of Church Government? 

Theoretically all church governments may be resolved into 
three kinds: 

First: A government by one man. 

Second: A government by all the people of the con 
gregation or church. 

Third: A government by more than one man and less 
than the whole body of the people. 

These three forms may be called the monarchical, demo- 
cratic, and oligarchical. They correspond to forms essen- 
tially similar in the government of the state. The three- 
fold classification has been recognized since the time of 
Aristotle. 

Practically, however, these definitions do not suffice. 
Not even the papacy is an absolute monarchy, and Congre- 
gationalism is far from being an unqualified and unlimited 
democracy. Modern church governments combine in them- 
selves various elements, and may therefore be described 
under other terms than those of primary or theoretical 
organization. 

A more convenient grouping for analysis and study is 
the following: 

(i) The Papal. The papal form of government is one 
in which one man stands as the highest and foremost ex- 
ponent of authority. The most prominent illustration of 
this type of government is that of the Church of Rome. 

(2) The Episcopal. In the episcopal type of govern- 
ment the highest authority is expressed in a group of 
bishops, conceived of as a rank or order of the clergy higher 



CHURCH POLITY 



than that of the elders or local pastors. The most promi- 
nent example of this form of government in this country- 
is the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

(3) The Presbyterian. The presbyterian form of gov- 
ernment is one in which the church is governed by the 
elders, or presbyters. The most important examples for 
our study are the Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal 
churches. 

The presbyterian form of government does not require 
a government wholly by the clergy. A part of the elders 
who constitute the governing body of the Presbyterian 
Church are "teaching elders." The Methodist Episcopal 
Church is episcopal in form, but not in government. The 
episcopate is counted to be not an order but an office, and 
the government is through conferences in which are both 
clerical and lay representatives.. 

(4) The Congregational. The Congregational form of 
government is that in which final authority resides in the 
whole body of the people. The Congregational denomina- 
tion is only one of several bodies which recognize the con- 
gregational form of government. The Baptists, Disciples 
of Christ, Universalists, Unitarians, and, to the extent that 
they recognize the autonomy of the local church, the 
Lutherans, and all other churches in which the final author- 
ity is expressed through a vote of the membership, are con- 
gregational in government. 

Like the river in the Garden of Eden that rises in one 
head and parts into four streams, the organic life of Chris- 
tianity flows through these four main channels. Although 
they sometimes seem to merge into each other, they will 
be found sufficiently distinct for the purpose of accurate 
study. 

Three Kinds of Government. Of political constitutions there are 
three kinds, and equal in number are the deflections from them, 
that is to say, the corruptions of them. The former are kingship, 
aristocracy, and that which recognizes the principle of wealth, 
which it seems appropriate to call timocracy, and which people 
commonly call constitutional government. — Aristotle: Ethics, Book 
VIII, ch. x. 



8 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Is Polity Identical with Ecclesiastical Law? Ecclesiasti- 
cal law, as the term is employed in Congregational church 
government and generally in the United States, is not identi- 
cal with polity. Ecclesiastical law is used with reference to 
the procedure of civil courts in ecclesiastical affairs; while 
polity is the system whereby churches govern themselves, 
or are governed by superior ecclesiastical bodies in the 
transaction of their own business. 

What is the Relation of Polity to Creed? There is no 
fixed or necessary relation between any type of polity and 
any particular type of creed. There might be a papal form 
of government teaching that there is one God, and a similar 
form of polity combined with a creed teaching that there 
are many gods. The democratic or congregational type of 
government can be employed either by evangelical or non- 
evangelical churches. However, certain forms of polity 
tend to certain credal relations. In general, a church that 
is monarchical in its forms of government holds its mem- 
bers less rigidly to written forms of statement than a 
church governed by bishops; and a church whose govern- 
ment resides in the whole body of the people tends to a 
larger liberality in matters of creed subscription than a 
church more compactly organized. 

What is the Relation Between Church Polity and Civil 
Government? There is no necessary and fixed relation be- 
tween any one form of church polity and any particular 
form of civil government, except where the church exists 
in organic union with the state. In a democratic country 
like America, churches of many types of government exist 
in equal freedom side by side. The form and constitution 
of the church itself are greatly influenced by the form of 
government in the state, and this influence is reciprocal. 
When Christianity became the state religion under Con- 
stantine its form of government was greatly modified. The 
government of the United States and of the several states 
have been profoundly influenced by the democratic type of 
government which existed in the free churches of the col- 



CHURCH POLITY 



onies before the Declaration of Independence. King James 
of England was right in the assumption expressed in his 
epigram, "No bishop, no king." It was largely because 
they found it feasible to conduct the business of the church 
without a bishop that the Puritans counted themselves en- 
tirely competent to manage the affairs of a state without a 
king. The simple organization of the Pilgrim church led 
naturally to the Mayflower compact. First, "they threw 
off this anti-Christian yoke of bondage, and as the Lord's 
free people joined themselves into a church-estate," and 
then in the name of God they "organized and combined 
themselves into a civil body politic." 

The government of the Congregational churches and of 
the United States are closely related, both in substance and 
in history. The form of government which the Pilgrims 
based on manhood suffrage and the authority of God in 
the affairs of the church they wrought also into the founda- 
tion of their republic at Plymouth Rock, whence in time 
it found a place in the government of the United States. 

Development of Church Law. The Church saw herself confronted 
by a highly cultivated state, to whose law, however, she was unable 
to take up a consistent attitude from the beginning. Had she re- 
fused to recognize the state in every relation, she would soon have 
been shattered by it. Had she been able simply to acquiesce in 
civil government, there would have been no question of forming a 
legislative system of her own except to a very modest extent. 
Just because her relation to the state was complicated, just because 
she both submitted to it (Romans xiii) and opposed it (Apocalypse 
of John, etc.), just because she unconsciously took it as a model 
and yet refused to recognize it, she found herself at last possessed 
of a permanent legislative system corresponding to the secular sys- 
tem of the state. — Harnack: The Constitution and Law of the 
Church, p. 143. 

Church and Civil Government Before the Reformation. Constan- 
tine and his successors in the empire, having removed from Chris- 
tianity the stigma of an illicit religion, proceeded to recognize and 
legalize the power of the bishops over the communities under their 
care. The distinction, now so founded, between church govern- 
ment and civil government, had never been denned or discussed, 
and it was therefore natural for the ministers of a religion recog- 
nized and protected by the state to become in some sort and to 
some extent functionaire of the imperial power. — Bacon: Genesis of 
the New England Churches, p. 44. 



II, THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 

What Is the Basic Congregational Principle? The basic 
principle of Congregationalism is the supreme leadership 
of Christ and the priesthood of all believers; the autonomy 
of the local church; and the fellowship both of Christian 
brethren within the church and of the churches one with 
another. 

While it is possible to carry definitive analysis further, 
it is better for practical purposes to state the principle 
thus, but these three principles are one. 

The National Council Affirmation. We believe in the freedom 
and responsibility of the individual soul, and the right of private 
judgment. We hold to the autonomy of the local church and its 
independence of all ecclesiastical control. We cherish the fellow- 
ship of the churches, united in district, state and national bodies, 
for counsel and co-operation in matters of common concern. — 
Preamble to National Council Constitution, 1913. 

Congregationalism. It embodies three fundamental principles: 
(1) that it is the right and duty of believers in Jesus Christ in 
every community to organize for Christian work and worship, and 
that such an organization is a Christian church; (2) that each such 
church is by right independent of all external ecclesiastical con- 
trol, and in any such church all members possess equal ecclesiasti- 
cal authority and that such churches owe a duty of Christian 
fellowship and co-operation to one another. This fellowship and 
co-operation is exercised among those who bear the name of Con- 
gregationalists, by means of councils, conferences, consociations, 
and associations. — Century Dictionary. 

Principles of Congregationalism. Congregationalism is the 
democratic form of church order and government. It derives its 
name from the prominence which it gives to the congregation of 
Christian believers. It vests all ecclesiastical power (under Christ) 
in the associated brotherhood of each local church, as an inde- 
pendent body. At the same time it recognizes a fraternal and 
equal fellowship between these independent churches, which in- 
vests each with the right and duty of advice and reproof, and even 
of the public withdrawal of that fellowship in case the course 
pursued by another of the sisterhood should demand such action 
for the preservation of its own purity and consistency. Herein 
Congregationalism, as a system, differs from Independency; which 
affirms the seat of ecclesiastical power to reside in the brotherhood 
so zealously as to ignore any check, even of advice, upon its action. 
Still, as this difference is only one of the exaggeration of a first 
principle, it follows that every Independent church is Congrega- 
tional, though few Congregational churches are Independent — in 
this strict and Brownist sense. — Dexter: Congregationalism, pp. 1, 2, 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 11 

The Ideal of Congregationalism. Its ideal is that the Church 
should be the organized expression of the creative will of Christ, 
as revealed to believers in devotional and deliberative fellowship. 
The aim of a Congregational church, in ultimate definition, is to 
give effect, throughout the entire field of its activities, to that 
supreme and sovereign principle. So that, "when the Church 
reaches its ideal perfection, the acts of the Church are the acts of 
Christ, and what it binds on earth is bound in heaven, and what 
it looses on earth is loosed in heaven." Those are the words of 
Dr. Dale, and it is significant that in his application of that prin- 
ciple he lays stress, not upon the right of every man to share in 
the government of the Church, but upon the responsibility of each 
to secure in the discipline, doctrine, and worship of the Church 
the supremacy of its Divine Founder and Lord. So long as we 
effectively ensure the living headship of Christ and the responsi- 
bility of believers to discover the living will of Christ, polity may 
be safely regarded as subsidiary and revisable. — Meredith Davis: 
Congregationalism and Its Ideal, Constructive Quarterly, Septem- 
ber, 1905, pp. 550, 551. 

What Is the Priesthood of all Believers? The priesthood 
of all believers is the great charter of the Christian faith. 
It has its authority in the profoundly significant words of 
Christ, "Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, 
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who 
is in secret." 

The inherent right of every Christian soul to approach 
God directly is the most precious truth of Christianity. 
Whatever room there is for priestly intercession must be 
made without trespassing on this fundamental and inde- 
feasible right of every soul to approach within the holy 
of holies and draw near to the throne of grace. In Jesus 
Christ the temple veil is rent in twain. In the vision of 
John in the Apocalypse the Ark of the Covenant is in plain 
sight of the congregation of Christian worshippers. Priest- 
hood as a usurpation of the right to thrust a system be- 
tween God and the soul has no rightful place in Chris- 
tianity. 

This priesthood of believers enthrones Christ as the 
only Lord of the Church, and carries with it as a corollary 
the spiritual equality of brethren in Christ. The funda- 
mental law of Congregationalism is the supreme authority 
of Christ. 

The Lordship of Christ. During the rise of English Independ- 



12 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ency in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the question that 
is chiefly to the fore is the higher constitution of the Church as 
distinct from its administrative regulations. Without dealing in 
detail with the views of the various leaders, we may summarize 
their main contentions as being: 

(a) That the Lord Jesus Christ is alone the Head of the 
Church and that the administrative finality of the state in church 
affairs was a practical violation of that. 

(b) That the governance of Christ in the life of the Church 
was a perfectly practicable ideal and alone ensured validity to its 
procedure. 

(c) That membership of the Church was a personal and not a 
parochial matter, and that therefore there could be no integration 
into the Body of Christ except through individual confession of 
faith. 

Those were the primary and creative principles, though they 
were soon followed with corollaries affirming local independence 
and democratic franchise (based on Christocratic control) and 
eventually separation of Church and State. And the tragic vein 
in Independent history is that these corollaries have obscured and 
largely displaced the cardinal and creative principles. Hence the 
familiar misconception that Congregationalism is "democracy ap- 
plied to church affairs," against which Dr. Dale so frequently 
protested. Hence also the mistranslation of spiritual autonomy 
into an exaggerated separatism, involving not only severance from 
the state but isolation from churches of its own order. These 
extravagancies must be read not only as declensions from the 
classic ideal, but as proof that the Nonconformist spirit had not 
found fitting and final institutional form. — Meredith Davis: Congre- 
gationalism and Its Ideal, Constructive Quarterly, September, 1915, 
pp. 550, 551. 

Robert Browne's Declaration. Because euerie one of the Church 
is made a King, a Priest, and a prophet vnder Christ, to uphold 
and further the Kingdom of God, & to break and destroy the 
Kingdome of Antichrist and Sathan. How are all Christians 
made Priestes vnder Christ? They present and offer vp praires 
unto God, for them selves & for others. They turne others from 
iniquitie, so that attonement is made in Christ unto justification. 
In them also and for them others are sanctified, by partaking the 
graces of Christ vnto them. — Robert Browne: A Book Which Show- 
eth the Life, etc. 

The Sacredness of Personality. It is, indeed, difficult to state 
the truth of this principle in any unexceptionable form as a logical 
proposition. A certain doctrine and spirit of Christian individual- 
ism is, however, an unmistakable characteristic of our polity. The 
roots of this principle of a just individualism lie deep down and 
far back. They are as far back in the Bible as the primitive 
utterance in which God says, "Let us make man in our image"; 
or the covenant of Mosaism, which gives to each of the followers 
of Jehovah the title of priest and king. This principle is, however, 
as far as possible from a declaration of contemptuous disregard 
of influence, or even authority (if you will use the word in its 
modified meaning), within the Church of Christ. The Lord's 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 13 

bondman is no man's bondman, though he should be servant of 
all. Every Christian, however unlearned and weak, stands in es- 
sentially the same relations with every other, however wise and 
strong. — Ladd: Church Polity, p. 49. 

How to Know the Will of Christ. In every Christian church 
the will of Christ is the supreme authority. But how are we to 
know the will of Christ? The early Puritans and Congregation- 
alists insisted on the production of definite authority from the 
Holy Scriptures in support of every detail of church organization 
and of every church rule and practice. Unless a church office or 
custom had the explicit sanction either of a scriptural precept or 
of apostolic example, they condemned it as unlawful. They applied 
the same rigid test to the forms and circumstances of Christian 
worship. It was a noble and, perhaps, a necessary error. In en- 
deavoring to correct the enormous abuses and corruptions which 
had paralyzed the divine forces of the Church and obscured the 
glory of Christian worship — abuses and corruptions which had 
become inveterate by the usage of many centuries, and which were 
supported by the whole force of the Church and the State — they 
were driven to this incessant and exclusive appeal to the Holy 
Scriptures. But the principle was false. The Church of Christ is 
not under the bondage of the "letter"; it has the freedom of the 
Spirit. — Dale: Congregational Manual, pp. 38, 39. 

What Is the Autonomy of the Local Church? The prin- 
ciple involved in the autonomy of the local church is the 
authority of each local congregation to govern itself, in all 
matters relating to its own internal administration, in a 
spirit of Christian love and fellowship. 

Local Autonomy. If precedent goes for anything, if John 
Cotton and John Wilson and John Winthrop knew what they 
meant when they talked of a Congregational church, they meant 
a church which was wholly independent in its relations to other 
churches, of which the individual members even were wholly inde- 
pendent in their approach to God. They really believed that all 
their church members were kings and priests. This was no poetical 
formula to be tucked out of sight whenever it was desirable to 
have it in the closet. It was the theory of religion in which these 
men lived and moved and had their being. — Edward Everett Hale: 
Unitarianism and Original Congregationalism, p. 5. 

Local Church Independent. Its constitutive principle is the 
independence under Christ of each fully constituted Church of 
Christ, or the autonomy under Christ of every local congregation 
of believers duly organized. This church independence is the 
principle which makes Congregationalism what it is. It governs 
all its institutions and determines all questions that arise touching 
order. And we mean by independence here the right and duty 
under Christ of each fully constituted local church to manage its 
own affairs, elect and ordain all its officers, administer its discipline, 
and determine its mode of fellowship, without external account- 
ability and control, but in harmony with the fellowship of unity 
in the kingdom of heaven. — Ross: Church Kingdom, p. 80. 



14 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The Ecclesia Is Autonomous. The brotherhood is the govern- 
ment. As the ecclesia of Athens was the sovereign assembly, and 
Pericles or Demosthenes only reasoned with it, convinced it, and 
so led it, the Christian ecclesia, with Christ in the midst, is her 
own authority. Even the greatest of her members, Augustine, 
Luther, or Wesley, is only able to lead by the suasion of truth 
and the gift of the Spirit. The autonomy of the congregation in 
the New Testament is surprising, both on account of the poor 
materials of which the church was composed, and also because the 
Apostles, fresh from the experience of Christ, and endued with 
the Holy Spirit, were yet present, and might have seemed entitled 
to override this independence. But, in the case of Paul, at any 
rate (in the case of the Twelve our information is defective), the 
apostolic authority was only used to elicit and establish the con- 
gregational independence. In no case are officers or ministers 
appointed without the consent of the congregation. If there is 
doubt whether the church elected, it is certain that it showed its 
approbation. A decree made by the Twelve at Jerusalem was 
valid only because it was issued "with the whole church" (Acts 
xv:22). The discipline was exercised by the whole church assem- 
bled in the name of Jesus; the apostolic authority was present 
only as a spirit of counsel and support. The men who were called 
upon to exercise this sovereign function of government, legislative 
and administrative, were morally ill-developed; tainted with 
heathenism, they with difficulty escaped from their past. But it 
does not occur to the Apostles to delay their franchise until they 
are full grown, until they can be fed on meat and not merely on 
milk. Rather, as in political training generally, the power to exer- 
cise the functions of government, the responsibility of decision and 
action can be acquired only by practice. — Horton: The Early 
Church, pp. 142, 143. 

An Early Declaration. Every true visible church is a company 
of people called and separated from the world by the word of 
God and joyned together by voluntary profession of the faith of 
Christ in the fellowship of the Gospel. Being thus joyned, every 
Church hath power in Christ to take unto themselves meet and 
sufficient persons into the offices and functions of Pastors, Teach- 
ers, Elders, Deacons and Helpers as those whom Christ hath 
appointed in his Testament. — Platform of the London-Amsterdam 
Church, 1596. 

What Is the Principle of Christian Fellowship? The 

principle of Christian fellowship as interpreted by Congre- 
gationalists involves the fellowship of individual Christians 
within the local church and the fellowship of churches 
united for the purpose of advice and counsel, or for the 
doing of their common work. 

The principle of fellowship has been so often neglected 
in Congregationalism in the over-emphasis of local auton- 
omy that some writers have sought to rectify this mistake 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 15 

by a compensating over-emphasis of fellowship. Thus 
Dr. George M. Boynton in his interesting work on "The 
Congregational Way" speaks of fellowship as "the sole 
Congregational principle," but this can hardly be defended 
save by an elasticity of terms which makes it include the 
rest of the Congregational principle. 

Dr. Boynton's Single Principle. It has been common to speak 
of two principles as being equally fundamental to Congregational- 
ism, independence and fellowship. They have been called the two 
foci of the Congregational ellipse. But we are disposed to con- 
sider that Congregationalism is a more perfect form of church 
organization than can be symbolized by the ellipse, and to regard 
fellowship as its one central principle. For fellowship can only 
exist in its truest and most perfect form between those who are 
mutually independent. — The Congregational Way, p. 9. 

The London Confession. And although the particular congre- 
gations be distinct and severall bodies, every one as a compact 
and Knit Citie within itselfe, yet are they all to walke by one rule 
of truth; So also they (by all means convenient) and to have the 
counsell and helpe one of another, if necessitie require it, as mem- 
bers of one body, in the common faith, under Christ their head. — 
1646. 

Boston Platform. Although churches are distinct, and therefore 
may not be confounded one with another; and equal, and therefore 
have not dominion one over another; yet all the churches ought 
to preserve church communion one with another, because they 
are all united to Christ as integral parts of his one Catholic 
Church, militant against the evil that is in the world, and visible 
in the profession of the Christian faith, in the observance of the 
Christian sacraments, in the manifestation of the Christian life, 
and in the worship of the one God of our salvation, the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. — 1865. (Dr. Quint stated that 
this section was from the pen of Dr. Leonard Bacon. — Dunning: 
Congregationalists, p. 490.) 

What Is Congregationalism? Congregationalism is that 
system of church organization which recognizes the equal 
rights of all believers, the independence and autonomy of 
the local church, and the association of the churches 
through voluntary organizations devised for fellowship and 
co-operation, but without ecclesiastical authority. These 
principles are not now held exclusively by the body known 
as Congregational, but have grown to increasing recogni- 
tion in other bodies also. Still, these cardinal points of 
church government are the peculiar heritage of the body 
which bears the Congregational name. The name was not 



16 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

chosen at the outset, nor was it the intent of the founders 
to select a name. In the beginning of the movement in 
America the churches were known simply as "The Church 
of Christ in Plymouth," or "in Boston," or "in Salem"; 
and as the churches increased they were designated as First 
or Second, or by their streets or locations. But as denom- 
inations multiplied, and to avoid confusion, these churches 
in which the final appeal was to the membership took the 
name of Congregational. 

The Congregational Theory. The Congregational theory of the 
Christian Church is that the kingdom of heaven, being itself one, 
has but one normal manifestation, or natural development, which 
appears first in individual churches, equal in origin, rights, func- 
tions, and duties, which are consequently independent one of an- 
other in matters of control; then in associations of churches with- 
out authority by which the fraternity and unity of all Christians 
are expressed and the churches co-operate in Christian labors, all 
being subject to Christ alone and to his revealed will. It shuns 
independency on the one hand, with which it is sometimes con- 
founded, and on the other hand the exercise of authority by asso- 
ciated churches. It also avoids all ministerial or prelatical rule. — 
Ross: The Church Kingdom, p. 79. 

Manhood and Machinery. One definition of Congregationalism 
is that it is that polity which puts least in the way of machinery— 
of rites, symbols, functionaries — between the individual soul and 
God. — Dexter: Congregationalism as Seen in Its Literature, p. 714. 

Denominational Ideals. No denomination is perfectly homo- 
geneous in its thought or aspiration. But in a striking degree 
Congregationalists are at one in their emphasis upon such ideals 
as these: 

1. Wide Liberty. Thought, speech and action are unshackled. 
Reliance is placed upon the Spirit of God, the power of the Gospel 
of Christ and the sound instincts of regenerated lives for maintain- 
ing a pure, faithful and united church. 

2. Close Fellowship. Realizing the weakness of isolated units, 
Congregationalism urges each individual to seek closest relation 
with his fellows and each church to seek the counsel of other 
churches, and to join with them in common tasks. It seeks also 
co-operative relation with other bodies and the ultimate unity of 
the Church of Christ. 

3. Thoroughgoing Democracy. Congregationalism has no grada- 
tion of church courts, no inner circle of authority. Its ministers are 
members of the churches they serve. Their credentials are in 
the keeping of groups of churches. There is no place for the poli- 
tician or the aristocrat. Autocracy, aristocracy and plutocracy are 
not at home in Congregationalism. It seeks to look beyond the 
incidents to the essentials of life. 

4. Emphasis upon Knowledge. Congregationalism welcomes truth 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 17 

from whatever source drawn, and is confident that every interest 
of the Kingdom of God will profit by enlargement of knowledge. 
It finds in Christian history the assurance that the future will not 
call for change in the central affirmation of the universal Church 
concerning the relation of God in Christ. But it stands ready to 
reshape its thought and life as the unfolding of the will and mind 
of God shall demand. 

5. The Exalting of Character. This is the^ complement of the 
last-named ideal. It called for a rational religion. This calls for 
an ethical religion. Reverent rationality and religious morality 
are the finest fruitage of the Christian Church. — Hubert C. Herring, 
in pamphlet, Matters Congregational, 1915. 

What Is the Significance of the Term Congregational? 
The term Congregational began to be used as an adjective 
rather than a proper name. It was descriptive of a form 
of government which recognized the ultimate authority of 
the congregation. John Cotton, first pastor of the First 
Church of Boston, issued a series of discussions on church 
government, in which he freely spoke of ''the Congrega- 
tional way." Richard Mather and other early New Eng- 
land ministers used the word. The question whether the 
term Congregational should be used only as a descriptive 
adjective and not as a proper name was carefully consid- 
ered by the National Council in Boston in 1865, where a 
committee, of which Rev. A. H. Quint was chairman, re- 
ported an answer to the Massachusetts Convention of 
Congregational ministers in part, as follows: 

The Affirmation of 1865. Our denomination is the same with 
that of the first churches of New England. We trace back our 
lineage in an uninterrupted line to that period. The same fellow- 
ship has been perpetuated, based upon a particular system of doc- 
trines and polity, to which we now hold. The denomination which 
we represent has thus had a distinct and recognized existence, as 
clear as history can make any historical fact, by all requisite limi- 
tations and declarations. This denomination has always had the 
distinctive name of Congregational churches. It is needless to 
quote authorities; for, from the days of John Cotton, the name 
Congregational was used to designate a particular denomination, 
of a faith well defined and now unchanged, as well as a peculiar 
polity. Nor did any others, so far as we can learn, though holding 
the same polity, assume that name while not belonging to this 
denomination. This distinctive denominational name is still our 
heritage from the fathers. — Minutes of the National Council of 
1865, p. 246. 

How Early Was the Name Congregational Used? The 



18 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Cambridge Synod of 1648 not only defines the government 
of a Congregational church but distinctly repudiates the 
name Independent. The term which had been used in 
earlier literature received at this first of all general gather- 
ings of the New England churches an official sanction. 

The Earliest Uses of the Name. Mr. C. W. Ernst of Boston 
furnished the article "Congregational" to the Oxford New English 
Dictionary. The earliest examples he found of the use of the 
word as a proper name were in Richard Mather's "Church Gov- 
ernment" (1639), J. Ball's "Answer to Caune" (1642), Baillie's 
"Letters and Journals" (1644), and a Resolution of the House of 
Commons (23 January, 1644). Mr. Ernst wrote me in 1901 bidding 
me look out for earlier instances, but I have found none. — Letter 
of Rev. William H. Cobb, Librarian of Congregational Library. 

In the Cambridge Platform. The state, the members of the Mil- 
itant visible church walking in order, was either before the law 
Economical, that is in families; or under the law National; or, 
since the coming of Christ only Congregational; (The term Inde- 
pendent wee approve not) therefore neither national, provincial, 
nor classical. A Congregational Church is by the institution of 
Christ a part of the Militant-visible-church, consisting of a com- 
pany of saints by calling, united into one body by a holy cove- 
nant. — ii, 5-6. 

In the Time of Cromwell. The term Congregational came into 
general use about the time of the great civil war in England, and 
contemporaneously in New England, as descriptive of a form of 
church polity in which the local congregation is the unit of organ- 
ization, and the source of ecclesiastical government (e. g., Richard 
Mather, An Apologic, London, 1643 [written 1639], p. 6, and gen- 
erally in the literature of succeeding years.) . . . The term Inde- 
pendency was attached to the system at about the same time as 
that of Congregationalism (in 1642), and though an object of yearly 
protest (e. g., An Apologeticall Narration, p. 23), long remained 
its usual designation in Great Britain, though it is now generally 
supplanted by "Congregationalism." In America it was never in 
use. Congregationalist as a title of the adherents of the polity is 
encountered in 1692 (Cotton Mather, Blessed Unions, Boston): 
and "Congregationalism" in 1716 (Increase Mather, Disquisitions 
on Eccl. Councils, Boston, p. vi). — Williston Walker: Art. Congre- 
gationalism, in Hasting's Diet. Relig. and Ethics. 

The Word Congregation. I do not find the word Congrega- 
tional as describing a church in early English history, but there 
are plenty of instances where the word congregation is used to 
describe a church. Dale's "History of English Congregational- 
ism," page 19, quotes from a document of the thirteenth century, 
describing a company of foreigners who arrived in England about 
the year 1160 and maintained that the church is "a congregation 
of men and women." Dale also quotes Strype's "Memorials," "the 
congregation in Kent who went over unto the congregation in 
Essex to instruct and to join with them." The exiles in Amsterdam 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 19 

describe in their supplication to King James "a congregation as 
absolutely independent and possessing all the powers which Christ 
has conferred on his church." Henry Jacob, in 1709, speaks of 
"those particular congregations as essentially true churches of 
God." John Robinson, in 1624, wrote in the name of the Leyden 
Church "to the Church of Christ in London," answering their 
question "whether Mr. Jacob's Congregation be a true Church or 
no." The Bishop of Exeter, in 1631, wrote to Archbishop Laud: 
"I hear to my grief that there are eleven Congregations as they 
call them," etc. 

The "Congregational way" was the term used by the five dis- 
senting brethren in the Westminster Assembly and I suppose the 
title Congregationalist arose from the need of a word to dis- 
tinguish that body from Presbyterians, but this of course was in 
John Cotton's time. 

John Davenport, in 1645, wrote a tract entitled "The Power of 
Congregational Churches." Thomas Hooker's "Summary of Prin- 
ciples" includes one which was "a Church Congregational is the 
first subject of the keys." — Letter of Rev. Albert E. Dunning, D. D., 
author of Congregationalists in America. 

Increase Mather's Use of the Terms Congregational, Congrega- 
tionalist, and Congregationalism. It has been injurious to those of 
the Congregational persuasion that the name of Brownists has been 
imposed upon them, from whom they differ essentially. . . . 
Congregationalists are of quite another spirit and principle. . . . 
They are the genuine posterity of the good Old Puritan Noncon- 
formists. . . . There was long since an admirable little book 
(little in bulk but great in worth) printed with the title "Puritan- 
ismus Anglicanus." It is perfect Congregationalism. — Disquisition 
concerning Eccl. Councils, Boston reprint of 1870, pp. 4, 5. 

Why Were Congregationalists Called Brownists? Con- 
gregationalists were sometimes nicknamed Brownists, after 
Robert Browne, an early and heroic, though erratic, Con- 
gregationalist. For the advocacy of the principles which 
had large influence in shaping Congregational polity, he 
was repeatedly imprisoned by Episcopalians in England 
and Presbyterians in Scotland, being sometimes confined 
in dungeons in which he could not see his hand at noon. 
Neither Robert Browne nor any of his associates or fol- 
lowers accepted the name Brownist. 

The Father of Congregationalism. Robert Browne is so called 
not because he founded the first Congregational church, for there 
were others earlier; not because he was the leader of the first en- 
during Congregational society, for the one he founded died; but 
because, not being bothered by experience, he drew up a program 
and a constitution in which he set forth abiding characteristics of 
polity. — Vernon: Southworth Lectures. 



20 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

John Robinson's Protest. Another thing hee, John Robinson, 
commended to us, was that wee should use all meanes to avoid and 
shake off the name of Brownist, being a meer nickname and brand 
to make Religion Odious. — Winslow: Hypocrisie Unmasked. 

Is Congregationalism a Modern Religion? Congrega- 
tionalists do not admit that theirs is a modern system of 
church government. They hold that the New Testament 
teaches that cases of discipline under the apostles were 
decided ''by the majority" (I Cor. 5 : 4, II Cor. 2 : 6, margin), 
and that Christ's only direction for church government 
provided a specific course of discipline whose last appeal 
was to the local church (Matt. 18: 18). They affirm that 
the New Testament knew no series of ranks in the min- 
istry, with priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals and 
popes, but that every pastor was a bishop, and that the 
two words, bishop and presbyter, occur in such relations 
to each other as to show with remarkable clearness that 
the two offices were one. In this opinion they are sus- 
tained by such scholars as Martin Luther, Arminius, John 
Calvin, Dean Alford, Pope Urban II, and a multitude of 
other scholars of all the leading denominations. Indeed, 
while no opinion can be said to be undisputed, even by 
names of weight, there is probably no question concerning 
the government of the early church about which there is 
more general agreement of scholars than that the two 
offices of the early church were those of presbyter, or min- 
ister, and deacon, and that local congregations were self- 
governing. 

Congregational Antiquity. Congregationalists are the only 
lineal descendants of the Apostles. They do not claim that their 
polity can be traced back historically, by an unbroken chain, to 
the apostolic age. That cannot be done by any denomination. 
But they do claim a historical connection with the Apostles on the 
ground of a oneness of principles. — Dorus Clarke: Orthodox Con- 
gregationalism and the Sects, p. 32. 

How Did Congregationalism Reach America? Modern 
Congregationalism in America came to us by way of Plym- 
outh Rock and the Mayflower. An interesting and im- 
portant development of its life appeared somewhat more 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 21 

than three hundred years ago, in the organization of the 
church at Scrooby, in England, in 1606. It was this church 
that, being persecuted with incredible cruelty for no other 
reason than the determination of its members to worship 
God in the simple and orderly manner of their church, 
migrated to Holland in 1607-08, whence a dozen years later 
a portion of the same church came to America in the May- 
flower. Their church organization in 1606, which serves 
in some sort as a pattern for modern Congregational 
churches, and their organization of a free government in 
1620, to which our national government is deeply indebted, 
rested on no disputable succession, no unholy alliance of 
recreant and apostate church with truckling and corrupt 
state, no assumed divine right of kings, or sacerdotal magic, 
but on the inherent right of manhood, guided by the Spirit 
of God, and animated by righteous aims. 

One of the most interesting and significant facts in the 
life of the Pilgrim community that later settled in Plym- 
outh is the calm and undisputed assurance which they 
had of their right, as the people of God, to organize a 
church with full authority to do all that any church could 
do, and later to establish a state with trial by jury, and 
the right to enact and execute just laws — not even except- 
ing the right to inflict capital punishment — to declare war, 
and to enter into treaties. The account of both these 
organizations is contained in the Bradford manuscript, the 
first apparently in the year 1606, and the other under date 
of November 11, Old Style, 1620. The earlier of these two 
immortal records reads: 

The Pilgrim Church. So many therefore of these proffessors as 
saw ye evill of these things, in these parts, and whose harts ye 
Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his trueth, they shooke 
of this yoake of antichristian bondage, and as ye Lord's free peo- 
ple, joyned them selves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church 
estate, in ye fellowship of ye gospell, to walke in all his wayes, 
made known or to be made known to them, according to their best 
endeavours, whatever it should cost them, the Lord assisting 
them. And that it cost them something this ensewing historic will 
declare. 



22 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

In the organization of this and similar churches, they 
asked no authority from any king, pope or bishop. As "the 
Lord's free people" they created a church, and obtained 
their authority direct from God. 

It is no accident that records the church organization 
first and the organization of the civil body later. The com- 
mon phrase which speaks of "civil and religious liberty" 
inverts the historic order. Religious liberty came first, and 
civil liberty grew out of it. 

In quite as dignified a manner, and one as free from 
any question of their inherent right as that which charac- 
terized their church organization, they organized their 
state, not as a poor substitute for royal authority, but as 
something "as firme as any patent" from the Crown, "and 
in some respects more sure." 

The Pilgrim State. I shall a little returne backe and begine with 
a combination made by them before they came ashore, being ye 
first foundation of their governmente in this place; occasioned 
partly by ye discontented and mutinous speeches that some of the 
strangers amongst them had let fall from them in ye ship — That 
when they came ashore they would use their own libertie; for none 
had power to command them, the patente they had being for Vir- 
ginia, and not for New-england, which belonged to an other Gov- 
ernment, with which ye Virginia Company had nothing to doe. 
And partly that shuch an acte by them done (this their condition 
considered) might be as firme as any patent, and in some respects 
more sure. 

The forme was as followeth: 

In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwrit- 
ten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, 
by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, de- 
fender of ye faith, & c, haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, 
and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king 
& countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts 
of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye pres- 
ence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves 
together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & pres- 
ervation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue 
hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, 
ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall 
be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye 
Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. 
In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at 
Cape-Codd ye 11. of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our 
soveraigne lord. King James, of England, Franc, & Ireland ye 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 23 

eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom. 1620. — 
Bradford's Journal. 

All the Men Signed the Compact. The compact did not estab- 
lish representative government. That was to come later, and was 
something familiar to all Englishmen. It was not the beginning 
of representative government on this continent; that had taken 
place the year before, when the Virginia burgesses were summoned 
by the Governor in accordance with the terms of a charter pre- 
pared in England. The men in the Mayflower were called to their 
task by no governor, and their compact was not drawn in Eng- 
land, but here. It was the voluntary and original act of those who 
signed it, and it embodied two great principles or ideas. The first 
was that the people themselves joined in making the compact each 
with the other. The second principle was that this agreement thus 
made was the organic law or constitution, to be changed only in 
great stress and after submission to the entire body politic and 
with the utmost precaution. The force and worth of this great 
conception have been attested since by almost countless constitu- 
tions of governments, both at home and abroad. Under that 
theory of government we have preserved the sober liberty, freedom 
and ordered liberty which have been the glory of the Republic. 
The little company of the Mayflower, pathetic in their weakness 
and suffering, imposing and triumphant in what they did, has be- 
longed to the ages these many years. The work they wrought has 
endured, and we would not barter their inheritance for the heritage 
of kings. But that which was greatest in their work was the con- 
ception of the organic law embodied in the compact, a conception 
full of wisdom and patience, prefiguring a commonwealth in which 
order and progress were to go hand in hand. — Henry Cabot Lodge: 
Address at Dedication of Pilgrim Monument, Princeton, 1910. 

Free Civil Government the Logical Result of Free Church Gov- 
ernment. Although the signing of that compact was a sudden act, 
caused by the refusal of the captain of the Mayflower on the day 
before to take his vessel through the dangerous shoals which lie 
off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts and so bring it to the 
Hudson River, where the English charter obtained by the Pilgrims 
before leaving Leyden authorized them to establish their colony, it 
was an act which the whole experience of their church in England 
and in Holland and the essence of the doctrines taught by their 
pastor and elders naturally though unexpectedly led up to. They 
had been trained to disregard all authority which they had not 
themselves instituted or accepted, and they had also become ac- 
customed to co-operative action for the common good. Indeed, the 
whole doctrine and the method of co-operative good-will cannot be 
better stated today than it was stated by Robinson and Bradford 
in 1618 in one of their five reasons for the proposed emigration 
from Holland to America: "We are knit together in a body in a 
most strict and sacred bond and covenant of the Lord, of the vio- 
lation hereof we make great conscience, and by virtue whereof we 
do hold ourselves straightly tied to care of each other's good and 
of the whole by every one, and so mutually." Everything that is 
good in modern socialism is contained in that single sentence, with 
nothing of the bad or foolish. — President C. W. Eliot: Address at 
Dedication Pilgrim Monument at Princeton, 1910. 



24 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The Pilgrim Government. There was a state without king or 
nobles; there was a church without a bishop. — Rufus Choate: Life 
and Writings, i: 379. 

Fidelity to Pilgrim Principles. Our Fathers fled into this Wil- 
derness from the face of a Lording Episcopacy and Human Injunc- 
tions in the worship of God. Now, if any of us their Children 
should yield unto, or be Instrumental to set up in this Country, any 
of the Ways of Men's Invention, such as Prelacy, imposed Litur- 
gies, Human Ceremonies in the Worship of God, or to admit Igno- 
rant and Scandalous Persons to the Lord's Table; This would be a 
backsliding indeed! It would be a Backsliding to the Things which 
we and our Fathers have departed from, and have openly testified 
against, to be not of God. — John Higginson: Sermon, 27 May, 1663. 

What Does Congregationalism Stand for? Congrega- 
tionalism stands for a representative democracy. It be- 
lieves in liberty, with all its attendant risks, as safer than 
sacerdotal rule. It holds that, great as are the perils of 
freedom, in the long run it is safer to trust the people than 
the priests or the politicians. But, on the other hand, it 
stands for such united effort of affiliated churches as may 
best promote the preservation of the ministry from dete- 
rioration, the protection of the churches from disorder and 
scandal, and the co-operation of the churches for mission- 
ary and philanthropic effort. 

Consistently with these ideals it has been a foremost 
denomination in the planting of educational institutions. 
When Boston was only six years old, Harvard College was 
founded with the intent now inscribed on the university 
gates, to provide an educated ministry. And a constella- 
tion of colleges shining out all over the continent owe their 
origin directly or indirectly to the influence of these ideals. 
Congregationalism stands also for a thoughtful and intelli- 
gent laity, and for the elevation of the body of the people 
in character and power. It holds that democracy is safe 
only in so far as righteousness characterizes the body of 
the people, and could wish with Moses that all the people 
of the Lord were prophets. 

It stands also for a hopeful and aggressive type of mis- 
sionary effort. The oldest foreign missionary society in 
America — the American Board — has celebrated its centen- 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 25 

nial with manifest tokens of divine favor, and of growing 
power among the nations of the earth. 

Congregationalism has always stood for good citizen- 
ship. It influenced profoundly the shaping of the ideals 
of the American nation, and bequeathed to the state the 
freedom which it had established in the church. It still 
stands for no alliance between church and state, but for 
the governing of the state by an intelligent democracy, a 
government of the people, by the people and for the good 
of the people. 

Democratic Responsibility. Developed American democracy- 
rests on two truths — one theoretical, the other practical — first, that 
the rights and powers of government reside in the individual citi- 
zens; second, that society will be better governed by allowing indi- 
viduals as far as possible to govern themselves. The active partici- 
pation of all citizens in the affairs of the government generates 
knowledge, capacity and public spirit. Our government is, as far 
as possible, distributed, rather than centralized as in France, be- 
cause we thus bring out the individual by putting on him a certain 
responsibility for the government. — Heermance: Democracy in the 
Church, p. 93. 

Was Congregationalism Originally Democratic? Con- 
gregationalism is an evolution. Its original leaders did not 
believe in democracy, but the root of the matter was in 
them, and the principles which they adopted and for which 
they suffered made ultimate democracy inevitable. When 
democracy came, it came through Congregationalism. 

The First American Democrat. John Wise, in his "Vindication 
of the New England Churches," published in 1717, takes a great 
stride (seventy years) in advance of the times, and boldly advo- 
cates the legitimacy of democracy and republics, both in civil and 
ecclesiastical government. He shows that it is agreeable to the 
law of nature, and that nothing but ill-nature is ever necessary to 
transform a monarch into a tyrant. He shows, both by theory and 
examples, how it may be made both a just and efficient government, 
and how the cause of true piety has always flourished most where 
this divinely constituted ecclesiastical government has been main- 
tained, besides instancing many cases where God has blessed it in 
a civil government. — Cummings: Diet. Democracy. 

John Robinson's Democracy. It should seem, then, that it ap- 
pertains to the people, . . . unto the people primarily, under Christ, 
to rule and govern the church. — John Robinson: Works, iii, 34. 

The People Rule. The whole power of government, and all acts 
thereto pertaining, are, by divine ordinance, in foro externo, to be 



26 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

determined by the most voices in and of every particular congrega- 
tion. — Letter of Puritan Minister of England to Gen. Assembly of 
Scotland, 1641. 

The Primitive Church Democratic. The popular government of 
the primitive church pervaded their ecclesiastical polity through- 
out. — Coleman: Church Without a Bishop, p. 108. 

Did Congregationalists Believe in Religious Liberty? 

The first Congregationalists did not fully understand the 
principles of religious liberty. They made many and sad 
mistakes before they came fully to the discovery of what 
was logically involved in their own principles ; but religious 
liberty became inevitable under the Congregational sys- 
tem, and the Congregationalists stand fast in the liberty in 
which they were born and which their fathers obtained at 
a great price. 

Congregational Democracy. The nearest approach to democ- 
racy was found northeast of the Hudson River, in the colonies of 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. 
. . . The original emigrants to Massachusetts were Congregation- 
alists. They looked upon members of any other sect as men of 
doubtful character, not to be trusted with the administration of a 
growing commonwealth. Woe to the Episcopalian who held that 
his Lares and Penates were as good politically as those of his Con- 
gregational brother! During the earlier years of the history of 
Massachusetts the charter required that the freemen should be 
godly; and the Puritan founders of the colony doubted very gravely 
whether the Thirty-nine Articles were a sufficiently acceptable road 
to godliness to make it wise to trust the Episcopalian with the 
franchise. Even when the franchise itself had been more liberally 
bestowed and political power had thus become diffused through the 
whole body of freeholders, the spirit of social exclusiveness re- 
mained almost unchanged. For a great deal of the work of New 
England society centered around the church rather than the state; 
and the church was controlled by the descendants of the original 
settlers. — Prof. Arthur T. Hadley: Undercurrents in American Poli- 
tics, pp. 4-5. 

Congregationalism and Religious Freedom. It is the glory of 
Congregationalism to have taken up the struggle for religious free- 
dom when Anabaptism failed. To it does not belong the glory of 
conceiving a free church, untrammeled by all connection with the 
state. To that idea the Baptists have always been truer than we. 
But what the Anabaptists failed to do in Europe, Congregation- 
alists accomplished in America. They were the chief influence in 
bringing about a civilization which is really chiseled on the lines of 
freedom, and in which religion has, as nowhere else, its proper and 
efficient place. 

This great service to religion and mankind Congregationalists 
performed to their own despite. There was that in their principles 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 27 

which forced them to a free church, in which at the outset they did 
not believe. The Congregationalists were at one with their coun- 
trymen in upholding the idea of a state church; they only insisted 
that the state authorities execute the mandates of the Scripture on 
church polity, which were as clear to them as they have at last be- 
come to the vast majority of modern scholars. 

Yet notwithstanding this colossal mistake of tying church and 
state together, Congregationalism succeeded eventually in estab- 
lishing a free church in America which is more influential and more 
thoroughgoing in its freedom than that of the other free churches 
of the world. And it did more than that. For not only are church 
and state separated in America as in no other Christian nation, 
save perhaps most recently in France, but no matter how strict the 
connectionalism of some of the denominations may be, the indi- 
vidual church is regarded in this country as the real seat of power. 
— Vernon: Southworth Lectures, 1914. 

Did Congregationalists Separate Church and State ? The 
first Congregationalists did not adopt in full the principle 
of a separation between church and state. The govern- 
ment of the New England colonies under Congregational 
rule was a theocracy, but the complete separation came in- 
evitably, and to that separation as well as to the Christian- 
izing of the spirit of the state, Congregationalism has made 
its very important contribution. 

Equality in Church and State. We might say that two legal 
fictions were latent in this action of the Pilgrims. First, that all 
men are created equal, with equal rights and powers. The doctrine 
of the common priesthood of believers had found its legal expres- 
sion in their democratic church. They were now broadening this 
doctrine and applying it in the political sphere. As men were equal 
before God, they were equal before the law, and competent to 
frame and administer civil institutions, "without tarrying for any." 
Unconsciously, and with many practical reservations as the years 
went on, the New England colonists built upon this principle of 
inherent political equality. As has been said of the later explicit 
declaration of it, in 1776, though false in an absolute sense, it was 
true in this sense, that our political institutions are unworkable on 
any other theory. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, p. 87. 

A Prophetic Declaration in 1582. Yet may they (the magis- 
tates) doo nothing concerning the church, but onlie ciuilie, and as 
ciuile magistrates they have not that aucthoritie over the Church 
as to be Prophets or Priestes or Spirituall Kings, as they are 
Magistrates over the same, but onlie to rule the Common-wealth 
in all outward justice, to maintain the right welfare and honour 
thereof, with outward power, bodily punishment, and ciuil forcing 
of men. And therefore also because the Church is a Common- 
wealth, it is of their charge; that is, concerning the outward proui- 
sion and outward iustice, they are to look to it; but to compel 
religion, to plant churches by power, or to force a submission by 



28 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

laws and penalties, belongeth not to them, neither yet to the 
Church. Let vs not therefore tarie for the Magistrates. If they 
be not Christians, should the welfare of the Church or the salua- 
tion of men hang on their courtesie? — Robert Browne: Reformation 
Without Tarying for Anie. 

What Is the Doctrinal Emphasis of Congregationalism? 

Doctrinally, Congregationalism stands for orthodoxy with 
liberty. It holds to no one man-made creed as of perpetual 
authority. It rejoices in the right of the churches from 
time to time to compare their faith with the essential faith 
of the past, and has repeatedly declared itself in essential 
accord with the historic symbols of Christendom. But it 
holds to the right of men to be wiser tomorrow than they 
are today, and to revise all creeds, and to use them as a 
testimony rather than as a test; believing in the immortal 
words of the Pilgrim pastor, John Robinson, that God has 
much more light to break from His Word. Hence Congre- 
gationalists hold reverently to the final authority of the 
Word of God in all matters of faith and conduct ; and they 
hold co-ordinate with this faith a belief in the right of the 
Church from time to time to place itself on record in the 
language of its own time and on doctrines of current inter- 
est. Deep-rooted in the faith of the past, and seeking to 
grow upward and outward toward God and the need of the 
world, the Congregationalists of today face the future with 
that faith in the Spirit of God in their own efforts, and in 
the better life of tomorrow, which the Pilgrims expressed 
as their final and best reason for coming to America, that 
they might do something to advance the Gospel of the 
Kingdom of Christ in the world. 

The Older Confessions. With regard to the Westminster and 
Savoy Confessions, which were formally adopted by the early New 
England churches, and which are still esteemed by us as systems of 
truth, they have never had the authority of standards with us, as 
some have supposed. They originated in England. They were 
consented to "for substance of doctrine" by the New England 
churches, for the sake of declaring their doctrinal agreement with 
Christians on the other side of the water, from which some had 
accused them of departing. — Mitchell: Guide, pp. 55-56. 

Is Congregationalism an Arbitrary System? Congrega- 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 29 

tionalism is sanctioned common sense. Within its admin- 
istration, the thing that ought to be done can be done. 
There is a decent and orderly way of rinding what the local 
church wants to do within the local church; and a way 
equally decent and orderly in which churches, through 
District Association, State Conference, and National Coun- 
cil, can accomplish their reasonable purposes. It is, and 
always has been, a fundamental principle of Congregation- 
alism, that methods employed, and ends sought to be at- 
tained, must be reasonable and sensible. Rules are made 
for the church ; not the church for the rules. 

Church Action and Common Sense. In respect of their end, 
they must be done unto edification. In respect of the manner, de- 
cently and in order, according to the nature of the things them- 
selves, and civil and church custom. Doth not even nature itself 
teach you? Yea, they are in some sort determined particularly, 
namely, that they be done in such a manner as, all circumstances 
considered, is most expedient for edification. — Cambridge Platform, 
1, 4. 

The Power of Reasonableness. It hath so much force as there 
is force in the reason of it. — Richard Mather. 

Is Congregational Liberty Safe? Liberty always involves 
peril. The freedom of the human will is a perilous thing 
in the government of God. It has involved the world in a 
close approach to ruin, but God has deemed liberty with 
all its attending risks better than a divine tyranny, and 
what is better is in the long run safer. Democracy in the 
church is quite as safe as democracy in the state. It has 
its perils in both places, but so also has tyranny. Congre- 
gationalists recognize fully the dangers of liberty, and in 
nowise confounding it with license, stand fast in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made them free. 

Freedom Always Dangerous. Freedom has always been re- 
garded as a dangerous word by those in authority. It is not, there- 
fore, to be wondered at that these obscure men who contended for 
it so unequivocally as a right and not merely as a convenience 
should have been persecuted by the state. — Vernon: Southworth 
Lectures, 1914. 

The Freedom of the Planets, and the Laws They Obey. Men 

who are in haste to see the end of things, and impatient with the 
slow processes of merely moral development, especially if their 



30 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

taste lie in the direction of a "strong" government, are often pro- 
voked by those concessions which have just been made that the 
past, or even the present, cannot bind the future, to stigmatize our 
system as loose, precarious, and perilous. Whether it be such, de- 
pends upon the view which one takes of it. I know of nothing in 
the visible universe, to an uninstructed eye, much more "loose, 
precarious and perilous," than the solar system of which this earth 
forms a humble part. Here is the vast circle of her orbit sweeping 
five hundred and fifty millions of miles, or so, around through 
space — a race-course without any solid gravel under foot, or fence 
on either side. What is to hinder our planet from plunging wildly 
through the heavens, colliding with her sister planets, and wrecking 
herself against the sun on the one hand, or irrecoverably hurling 
herself off tangential into unimaginable chill and dark abysm of 
nowhere, on the other? Nothing which one can see. There is no 
"strong" government bristling with penalties; no steel cable to 
hold it to its central duty; no groove nor flange to guide it; noth- 
ing, absolutely nothing, but the subtle, invisible, impalpable force 
of God's will upon it, and God's way in it. — Dexter: Congregation- 
alism as Seen in Its Literature, p. 705. 

Is Congregationalism a Perfect System? It is not. No 
human system is perfect, nor does any system eliminate 
human elements of imperfection by calling itself divine. 
One serious error in Congregational polity, as of other 
church polities, has been the assumption that if we could 
discover precisely how the apostles governed churches in 
the apostolic age, we should be perfectly sure how we 
ought to govern churches in a very different age. The 
apostles showed great resourcefulness in adapting their 
organization to the needs of their time, and it is quite 
conceivable that they would do some things differently if 
they were living now. 

Efficiency. The antithesis between democracy and efficiency is 
far more acute and difficult in the church than in civic society. 
More than any other institution on earth, the church is under obli- 
gation to respect, defend and vindicate democracy. For not to 
priests and prelates or the high ones of earth is the message of 
God sent forth, but in the hearts of the humble and the contrite is 
the temple, and with them the communion, of the Almighty 
Father. Woe must soon betide any church so impious as to refuse 
to hear the people. — Nolan R. Best: An Efficient Democratic Church, 
in The Continent, May 21, 1914. 

A Growing Adjustment. Much indefiniteness and defectiveness 
have all along prevailed with regard to Independent polity. ^ And 
the final reason for that is that the Christocratic principle, which is 
the basis of Congregationalism, has not yet found appropriate insti- 
tutional expression. Nonconformity's ideal was high — a polity and 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 31 

institution which were the Spirit's express Creation through Christ- 
dependent men. But the ideal miscarried in process of articulation, 
and Independency, instead of following its creative impulse, turned 
aside from its own cardinal principle and became imitative of what 
it believed to be the New Testament model of a church. The result 
is, as our most recent historian affirms, that the world has still to 
wait for an adequate constructive expression of the Nonconformist 
spirit. (Clark's History of Nonconformity, i: 203.) That conclu- 
sion is significant, particularly as it emerges as the dominant les- 
son of a detailed study of our history. And yet it is not an aston- 
ishing conclusion, for the historical complications in which the 
ideal was enmeshed were bound to affect its expression. And they 
certainly obscured the vision of those who should have been the 
guardians of that ideal. But the true significance of that conclu- 
sion is this: It requires that a new constructive effort be made to 
articulate the Congregational ideal. And since the environment 
has changed, and the world-issues are so vitally and vastly differ- 
ent, it is natural to infer that its institutional form will be corre- 
spondingly different. — Meredith Davis: Congregationalism and Its 
Ideal; Constructive Quarterly, September, 1915, p. 549. 

No System Is Perfect. The Congregational pastor must learn — 
and he surely will have speedy opportunity to learn — that nothing 
works thoroughly well in this sad world of ours. But if Congre- 
gationalism, as a matter of principles variously applied to human 
living in family, church, and state, is to be tested by its real suc- 
cess, it will bear the test better than any other church order since 
the days of the Apostolic Church. For there has been for two 
hundred and fifty years vastly more Congregationalizing, in prin- 
ciple, of other churches, than there has been Presbyterianizing, or 
Methodizing, or Episcopizing of Congregational churches. Con- 
gregationalism did not work thoroughly well in the case of the 
apostolic churches. Christianity did not work thoroughly well in 
the case of the ancient world. No form of church order has 
worked in the past, or does in present work, thoroughly well. But 
Congregationalism is, nevertheless, as a matter of principle, the 
New Testament way of constituting and managing Christian 
churches. — Ladd: Principles of Church Polity, 96-97. 

Is Congregationalism Effective? The relatively slow 
growth of Congregationalism has often been pointed to as 
a proof that Congregationalism is not effective as a form 
of church organization, but the growth of the Congrega- 
tional principle has by no means been confined to the Con- 
gregational denomination. It has made many and lamen- 
table mistakes, but it has manifested a power of adaptation 
entirely consistent with loyalty to its basic principle and 
is attacking its problems of administration and expansion 
with a vigor which give it large promise for the years to 
come. 



32 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Governor Hutchinson's Testimony. But, however this constitu- 
tion may appear in theory, we shall seldom meet with an instance 
in which there has been so steady and so general an adherence to 
the principles on which it was founded, and so much harmony sub- 
sisting, not only in particular churches, but also between one 
church and another, for fifty years together. — Hutchinson: Hist, of 
Massachusetts, 1795; Vol. I, p. 374. 

Seedtime and Harvest. Religion is not always sown and reaped 
in one age. One soweth, and another reapeth. The many that are 
already gathered, by the mercy of God, into the kingdom of his Son 
Jesus Christ, and the nearness of many more through the whole 
land — for the regions are white unto the harvest — do promise, in 
less than a hundred years, if our sins and theirs make not us and 
them unworthy of this mercy, a very plentiful harvest. — John Robin- 
son: Justification of Separation, Works, ii, 65. 

Nothing Else Could Have Done What Congregationalism Has 
Accomplished. Few persons, if any, can hesitate to agree that no 
other system of church government than Congregationalism could 
have been successful in New England at that day. No other sys- 
tem could have done so much for liberty, civil and religious. Inde- 
pendent churches formed the earliest and most enduring barriers 
and bulwarks at once against hierarchies and monarchies. — Robert C. 
Winthrop: Oration at Plymouth, December 21, 1870. 

Democracy and Efficiency. It's no shame to democracy that it 
conflicts with efficiency. Nothing on this earth can have all the 
advantages. Democracy has a rich abundance of values and vir- 
tues. Efficiency is simply one lack. Efficiency's watchword is, 
"Get the thing done!" But democracy gets the thing done only 
slowly and haltingly. Before a mass of people can decide to act 
together, there must first of all be a tedious discussion of it. 
Patient pressure is necessary to get the masses to move, even after 
they are convinced. Usually, also, there are diverging interests 
that have to be placated by compromise. So when the thing is done, 
it is often done only in a patchwork fashion. When quick results 
are imperative, the only way for it is to put all the responsibility 
on one man. Then there is only one mind to make up and no com- 
mittee meeting to call. Indeed, democracy itself is glad to step 
aside in emergency and let one-man efficiency take right of way. 
When the town's afire, nobody proposes a town meeting to decide 
how to stop the blaze. Till the last embers are dead, the fire chief 
is a despot. Yet none of this is reason for discounting democracy. 
In the ordinary, normal ways of life there are plenty of reasons for 
preferring it in spite of delays, indirections and wastes. 

There is something worth more in life than efficiency, and that 
is the wisdom of sound living. And the man who knows how to be 
efficient doesn't always know about wise ways to live. To tell the 
truth, democracy doesn't either. But everything taken together, 
there runs a better average chance that the democracy will know 
what's good for human life — for social human life, especially — than 
that the typical individual citizen will know. The sole way for a 
democratic church to get its tasks done efficiently is to look out 
from among its own number men of good report — whose demo- 
cratic and Christian spirit is assured of, whose unselfish loyalty it 



THE CONGREGATIONAL PRINCIPLE 33 

believes in, whose competent wisdom it knows— and appoint them 
to be its leaders in the tasks waiting. Then let it support them 
and follow them as they lead. Thus the church which has learned 
the secrets of trust, sympathy, counsel, prayer, and love may have 
efficiency and democracy together. — Nolan R. Best: In The Conti- 
nent, May 21, 1914. 

Force and Freedom. It is freely admitted that Congregational 
fellowship makes for a unity in purpose and service as strong and 
sufficient, if not stronger really, than where legislation is enacted 
by which churches are frequently compelled to assent to what they 
cannot easily accept or conscientiously approve. Whatever is wise, 
true, just, and honorable, all Congregational churches cheerfully 
endorse. Though we are represented by many different com- 
munions, nevertheless no other body of believers approaches the 
strength in fellowship illustrated by Congregationalism. Our 
churches acknowledge a Head, who is Jesus Christ; they have a 
bond of faith — the essential truths of the Gospels; they recognize 
a law — the law of love; they are one in Jesus Christ. — Asher Ander- 
son: Congregational Faith and Practice, p. 7. 

Its Faith and Works. It was founded in protest against eccle- 
siastical autocracy. It adopted as its central affirmation the equal- 
ity of men before God and in the world. It speedily emancipated 
itself from its inherited union with the state. It was early in the 
field as one after another modern movements of reform arose. 
Whether the battle was against intemperance or against slavery, 
against intolerance or public dishonor, Congregational men and 
women were usually found ranged on the right side. It would 
have been both strange and shameful if such a history had led to 
no conspicuous results these fifty years past. Happily, no such 
outcome has been recorded. The Pilgrim faith has continued to 
produce social fruits. — Herring: Congregationalism in Recent His- 
tory, p. 21. 



III. THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 

In What Interdenominational Bodies Do Congregation- 
alists Share? Congregationalists are represented in the 
active work of practically all interdenominational agencies. 
They had large share in the formation of the Evangelical 
Alliance, and are active participants in the Federal Council 
of Churches of Christ in America. They are active in the 
Laymen's Missionary Movement and other forms of fellow- 
ship and service. They support the American Bible So- 
ciety, the American Tract Society, and other interdenom- 
inational publishing and missionary organizations. 

Federal Council. A chapter in the author's Congregational 
Manual is devoted to the organization of the Federal Council and 
gives a complete outline of its principles and activities. 

What Is the International Congregational Council? 

The International Congregational Council is a body which 
came into existence in 1891 and which was organized with 
a constitution in Edinburgh in 1898. It consists of 400 
members elected by the National Councils of the several 
nations represented. One hundred and fifty members are 
chosen from the United States, one hundred and fifty from 
the British Isles, twenty from Canada, thirty-two from 
Australasia, ten from South Africa and thirty-eight from 
the rest of the world. All Congregational foreign mission- 
aries are members of the Council. At present members 
from the United States are chosen by a Committee of the 
National Council with power to fill vacancies. This has 
seemed necessary in view of the infrequent meetings of the 
Council and the long distance which delegates must travel 
to attend it. It is desirable, however, that some plan be 
formulated whereby there may be nominations from differ- 
ent states, in order to secure as equitable a distribution as 
possible. 

Thus far meetings of the International Council have 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 35 

been held in London, 1891 ; Boston, 1899, an d Edinburgh, 
1903. 

In the ordinary course the next meeting of the Interna- 
tional Congregational Council would occur in 1918, but it 
is likely that it will be held in 1920. The report of the 
Committee on International Council made before the Na- 
tional Council at New Haven in 191 5 proposed that the 
next meeting be held in connection with the celebration of 
the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pil- 
grims, and this was approved by the National Council. 
The Council will probably last nine days. The first p?rt 
will be devoted to historical topics, and the last to a con- 
sideration of matters connected with the progress of the 
denomination and of the work of the Church universal. 

International Councils and World Wide Congregationalism. 

Congregationalism has become conscious of its world-wide mission 
largely through the international councils held from time to time 
in different parts of the world. This tendency toward connexion- 
alism does not mean any abandonment of their original principles. 
They still stand for the position that the members of a Christian 
church should be Christians, and that the sole head of the Church 
is Jesus Christ. In things theological they allow a wide latitude 
of opinion, and their general position is broadly evangelical. — 
Selbie: History of Nonconformity, p. 245. 

How Large Is Congregationalism? The Congregational 
churches in the United States have a total membership of 
something more than three-quarters of a million. Their 
churches number more than 6,000, and the number of their 
ministers is about equal to that of their churches. The 
Congregational churches of the world aggregate approxi- 
mately 1,500,000 members, with something like 15,000 
organized churches. This is not, however, the whole of 
Congregationalism. The Baptist churches are Congrega- 
tional, and so are the Disciples of Christ, the Christian Con- 
nection, the Universalists, the Unitarians, and a number 
of smaller denominations. Taken together, the churches 
that recognize the Congregational principle constitute both 
in America and throughout the world a very large and in- 
creasing section of the whole Christian Church. 



36 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

A Few Statistics. The denomination has 6,093 churches, 5,923 
ministers, 763,182 members, 757,873 persons in its Sunday Schools, 
133,474 in its young people's societies, 85,811 in its men's organiza- 
tions, church property in the United States valued at $84,565,377, 
endowments held by local churches to the amount of $10,204,063, 
these churches having an annual income of $10,716,311. The mis- 
sionary societies of the denomination hold endowment funds to the 
amount of $9,000,000 with mission property of about the same 
value. They have nearly 4,000 persons under their commission and 
receive an annual income of $2,500,000. The publishing house has 
a capital of about $200,000 and does an annual business of over 
half a million dollars. In addition, a large and influential group of 
theological seminaries, colleges and academies are closely identified 
with the denominational life. It is not possible to give more than 
an estimate of the number of their students, or the amount of their 
property, but the one cannot be less than 20,000 nor the other less 
than $75,000,000. — Hubert C. Herring: In pamphlet, Matters Congre- 
gational, 1915. 

The Congregational Spirit. We are widely Congregationally 
organized; the Baptists, Disciples, Congregationalists and smaller 
bodies make up a very large per cent of American Christianity; 
but we are almost altogether Congregationally spirited. — Vernon: 
Southworth Lectures. 

We Have Become a Congregational Nation; or, as we some- 
times call it, a Republic. — Alexander McKenzie. 

As a Polity, Congregationalism is much more widespread than 
the Congregational name. The Baptists, the Plymouth Brethren, 
the Disciples of Christ, the Unitarians, of the United States, as 
well as certain sections of the Adventists and of the Lutherans, 
are congregationally governed. — Williston Walker: Art. "Congrega- 
tionalism," in Hastings' Diet, of Relig. and Ethics. 

What Is the Polity of the Unitarian Churches? The 
Unitarian churches are Congregational in government. A 
number of older New England churches, which were ortho- 
dox Congregational churches until about a century ago, 
remain with the constitutions and covenants unchanged. 
Whatever doctrinal differences exist between them and the 
so-called orthodox churches, they remain, as they always 
have been, Congregational in government. 

Our Common Heritage. Congregationalism is identified with 
all the great features of our national life. It has stimulated inde- 
pendent thought, actively promoted civil liberty and the practice 
of self-government. The spirit that led to the establishment of 
churches governed by the congregation led to the establishment 
of the New England town meeting, and finally to the democratic 
system of national government under which we live. A democratic 
church in a free state, which tolerates all other forms of religious 
faith and polity, relies for its wise conduct and permanent develop- 
ment upon the sound and widespread education of the people, and 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 37 

particularly upon a highly trained ministry. By the inevitable 
tendencies of its fundamental principles, Congregationalism has 
therefore contributed more than any other polity to the growth 
of toleration in religion and to the upbuilding of popular education. 
The great common school system we enjoy is largely a product of 
the spirit of New England Congregationalism; and Congregation- 
alists have been foremost in America in founding colleges, univer- 
sities, and seats of learning. 

Congregationalism gives free play to the infinite diversity of 
human faculty and aspiration, and thus upbuilds the true unity of 
the spirit in place of sectarian rivalry or barren uniformity. The 
purpose and result of Congregationalism has been summed up in 
the saying that it "helps to educate men and women, for righteous- 
ness, through freedom, to unity." 

It is, then, a noble heritage of independence, made effective 
for human welfare by co-operation and fellowship, into which the 
churches of the Unitarian order are permitted to enter. By this 
heritage Trinitarian Congregationalists and Unitarian Congrega- 
tionalists alike are enriched. — Unitarian Handbook, pp. 11-12. 

What Is the Polity of the Universalist Churches? The 
Universalist churches are Congregational in polity. Orig- 
inating as they did in times of controversy over the fate 
of impenitent men, they maintain certain doctrinal tenets 
which lie outside the province of this present volume. In 
practically all their church government they are guided by 
the same principles which are recognized in other Congre- 
gational churches. 

During the time that persons attending Universalist 
ministrations in New Hampshire and some portions of 
Massachusetts were taxed for the support of the "standing 
order" and appealed to the courts for relief, the courts in 
both these states decided that Universalists were not a sect 
distinct from Congregationalists. 

A recent Universalist historian truly says: "This deci- 
sion was not made in ignorance of the fact that Univer- 
salists differed from Congregationalists in theological opin- 
ions, but wholly on the ground — singular as it may now 
seem — that Universalists were Congregationalists in a sense 
by being a sect of independent parishes." 

A Court Decision. Presbyterians and Congregationalists are 
different sects within the meaning of the constitution, because they 
differ in church government and discipline, though they agree in 
doctrinal belief. . . . Generally speaking, the Universalists 



38 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

have no distinct formulary of government and discipline. In large 
towns they sometimes associate and worship together. But em- 
bracing this tenet makes in general no more difference as to the 
form of church government and discipline than embracing the 
Calvinist, Arminian, Hopkinsian does. — Chief Justice Smith, in 
Muzzy vs. Wilkins; Quoted in Eddy's History of the Universalists, 
p. 432. 

What Is the Polity of the Baptist Churches? The 

Baptist churches are Congregational in government. Each 
local church is self-governing, elects its own officers, and 
formulates its own confession of faith. In doctrine as in 
polity the Baptist churches are in essential accord with 
other Congregational churches, their only important differ- 
ence being their insistence upon adult baptism by immer- 
sion and the more or less rigid insistence of some of them 
upon close communion. Notwithstanding these differences, 
which many Baptists regard as important, they are Con- 
gregational, and every fundamental principle accepted by 
Congregationalists in church government is recognized 
also by the Baptists. 

Baptist Congregationalism. The government is administered 
by the body acting together, where no one possesses a pre- 
eminence, but all enjoy an equality of rights; and in deciding 
matters of opinion, the majority bears rule. The pastor exercises 
only such control over the body as his official and personal influ- 
ence may allow, as their teacher and leader and the expounder 
of the great Lawgiver's enactments. His influence is paramount, 
but not his authority. In the decision of questions he has but his 
single vote. His rule is in the moral force of his counsels, his 
instruction and guidance in matters of truth and duty, and also 
in wisely directing the assemblies, whether for worship or business. 
Much less have the deacons any authoritative or dictatorial control 
over church affairs. Matters of administration are submitted to 
the body and by them decided. — Hiscox: Baptist Directory, pp. 144- 
145. 

What Is the Polity of the Disciples Churches? The 
Disciples of Christ are Congregational in government. 
Each church elects its own officers and adopts its own 
rules. In general they agree in requiring baptism by im- 
mersion, though none of them insist upon immersion as a 
prerequisite to admission to the Lord's Supper. Like other 
Congregational churches, the Disciples accept the Bible as 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 39 

their final authority, and they are earnest advocates of 
church union. 

Alexander Campbell's Polity. The community, the church, the 
multitude of the faithful, are the foundation of official power. This 
power descends from the body itself, not from its servants. The 
Body of Christ, under Him as its head, is the fountain and spring 
of all official power and privilege. ... Its bishops teach, pre- 
side and execute the laws of Christ in all its convocations. The 
deacons, a large and diverse class of functionaries composed of 
stewards, almoners, treasurers, doorkeepers, etc., wait continually 
on its various services. — The Christian System, XXV, xix, pp. 88-89. 

Disciples Are Congregationalists. The view of baptism set 
forth in these chapters relieves us of the need of all forced theo- 
logical fictions and provides us with a logical justification of the 
course which the hearts of all the more generous-minded church- 
men among us prompt us to pursue. Without the slightest mental 
reservation we are left free to affirm that a Presbyterian church 
is a church of Christ, just as truly as a Disciples or a Baptist 
church is a church of Christ. Its baptism, i. e., its initiation, is 
valid. The worst we can say of it is that it was irregularly per- 
formed. Regularity in the administration of the rite of initiation 
into the Church of Christ — historical regularity, dating back to 
apostolic practice — demands that the candidate be baptized by 
immersion in water. But immersion is not essential in order to 
give validity to the initiation. Any doctrine of baptism whose 
effect is to unchurch the Church, as Thomas Campbell warned 
his son, Alexander, is surely fallacious. — C. C. Morrison: The Mean- 
ing of Baptism, p. 215. 

Do Disciples Churches Have Creeds? Theoretically 
not; but unwritten creeds are as certainly creeds as are 
written creeds; the lex non scripta is as valid as the lex 
scripta. But some Disciples churches have very substan- 
tial creeds incorporated in their covenants. The following 
will serve as an illustration, and is taken from a standard 
manual for the organization and government of churches 
of the Disciples of Christ: 

A Creed Within a Disciples' Covenant. We, the undersigned, 
have been baptized upon confession of faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We desire to unite in a congregation because we believe 
in the wisdom of associated effort in things spiritual as well as in 
things temporal; because we earnestly desire to grow in grace 
and in knowledge of the Word of God; and because we believe 
that by combining our means and talents we may become more 
influential witnesses for Christ in this community, securing thereby 
more consideration for our cause as well as a deeper Christian 
life for ourselves. We have already covenanted with God in 
Christ. In so doing we realize that we have taken God the Father 
to be our God, Jesus Christ to be our Saviour, the Holy Spirit to 



40 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

be our cherished Guest and Sanctifier, the Word of God to be 
our only rule of Faith and Practice, the salvation of all men to 
be an object of perpetual concern, and the people of God to be in 
an especial sense our people. In order to fulfill most effectively 

this solemn covenant, we do now on this the day of , in 

the year of our Lord , unite to form a Church of Christ in 

, and we do hereby covenant to do all in our power to pro- 
mote the growth, spirituality and general prosperity of this con- 
gregation. To this end we pledge ourselves by the aid of God's 
Word and Spirit to lead lives of personal righteousness, to give 
freely as the Lord blesses our labors for the maintenance of his 
cause, to attend faithfully upon the services of the church, and 
to do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the 
household of faith. In testimony of our deliberateness and sin- 
cerity, we hereunto affix our names. — Joseph H. Foy, Pastor of 
Fourth Christian Church of St. Louis, in The Christian Worker, 
pp. 121, 122. 

What Is the Polity of the Christian Connection? The 

Christian Connection is Congregational in government. It 
has, however, annual conferences composed of ministers 
and lay delegates which receive and ordain pastors, and a 
General Convention meeting once in four years. It is 
divided into two bodies, North and South, the division re- 
sulting from the anti-slavery discussion in 1854. The 
churches of this order recognize no creed but the Bible, 
and their polity is in all important points similar to that 
of other Congregational churches. 

A Congregational Body. The churches of the Christian Con- 
nection, nearly fifteen hundred in number, comprising upwards of 
one hundred thousand communicants, are simply Congregational 
churches. There was once a reason for their separate organiza- 
tion. At the present day, no such reason (aside from the fact 
that the organization already exists) could be alleged which would 
not be equally a reason why the communion of the Congregational 
churches should be itself divided by the withdrawal or exclusion 
of some of its worthiest churches. — Bacon: Congregationalists, p. 
259. 

Is Congregationalism Identical with Independency? 

Congregationalism is not identical with Independency, al- 
though the two polities have frequently been confused, 
particularly in England. Independency does not recognize, 
as Congregationalism does, the fellowship of the churches 
as a part of their organic structure. 

Congregationalists and Independents. Historically the two 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 41 

terms have been used interchangeably. For the last two hundred 
years most Independents have been Congregationalists — or, at 
least, the churches describing themselves as "Independent" 
churches have preserved the traditions c*f the Congregational 
polity. But under the Commonwealth and the Protectorate many 
Congregationalists objected to be described as Independents; and 
there were many Independents who were not Congregationalists. — 
R. W. Dale: History of English Congregationalism, pp. 375-376. 

Not Independency. We are much charged with what we own 
not, viz.: — Independency, when as we know not any Churches 
Reformed, more looking at sister Churches for helpe then ours 
doe, onely we can not have rule yet discovered from any friend 
or enemy, that we should be under Canon, or power of any other 
Church; under their Councell we are. We need not tell the wise 
whence Tyranny grew in Churches, and how commonwealths got 
their pressure in the like kind. — Hugh Peters (executed 1660): 
Answer to the Elders, iv. 

Freedom and Fellowship. Or else, if it could be clearly evinced 
by any of the Congregational men's words and writings, opinions 
or practices in Old England or New; first that they do altogether 
exclude the advice and counsel of the servants of Christ in 
neighbor churches, when there is occasion for it; or secondly, that 
they refuse to be accountable for their actions unto those who 
shall in a faire and orderly way, according to the rule of the 
Gospel, in the name of Christ desire them ... I say if these 
things could be fairly made out against those of the Congrega- 
tional way, it were something, then I confesse, our brethren (as 
in words they profess themselves) might justly accuse us before 
heaven and earth of Pride and Arrogancy, of presumption, Blas- 
phemy and independency: but (forever blessed be the Lord) this 
they cannot do. — Bartlet: Model of the Primitive Congregational 
Way, 1647. 

We Approve Not the Term. The state of the members of the 
militant visible church walking in order, was cither before the 
law, economical, that is in families; or under the law, national; 
or since the coming of Christ, only congregational: (The term 
independent we approve not.) Therefore neither national, provin- 
cial nor classical. — Cambridge Platform of 1648, ii, 5. 

Has Congregationalism Influenced Other Denomina- 
tions? There is probably no denomination in America, no 
matter what its theoretical polity, which has not been 
notably influenced by the Congregational system. A recent 
volume by Bishop Thomas B. Neely makes frequent com- 
plaint of the growing tendency of Methodist churches to 
call their pastors almost to the disregard of conferences 
and bishops. There are Episcopal churches which, within 
the bounds of the local parish, definitely assert and practice 
the Congregational principle. Even Roman Catholicism, 



42 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

which by the way has retained in its ritual some reminis- 
cences of primitive Congregationalism, is influenced in no 
small degree by the voice of the people through the local 
parish. 

Dr. Dexter Says: It is remarkable that a trace of this original 
Congregationalism, even to this day, maintains and justifies itself 
in the very ritual of the papal system; since the bishop is made 
to say, while ordaining a priest, "it was not without good reason 
that the fathers had ordained that the advice of the people should 
be taken in the election of those persons who were to serve at the 
altar; to the end that, having given assent to their ordination, they 
might the more readily yield obedience to those who were so 
ordained" ["Neque enim frustra a patribus institutum, ut de elec- 
tione illorum qui ad regimen altaris adhibendi sunt, consulatur 
etiam populus," etc.]. — Pontif. Rom. DeOrdinat. Pres. fol. 38. 

Other Denominations Congregationalized. The prevailing 
power of the Congregational principle, in America, is nowhere 
more impressively manifested than in its practical dominance in 
those orders of the American church in which theoretically it is 
least recognized. No American sect has been organized with a 
loftier contempt of Congregational principles than the Methodist 
Episcopal Church as it took form under the controlling influence 
of John Wesley. "We are not republicans, and do not intend to 
be," was his characteristic dictum. But in spite of his intentions, 
that is the direction in which his great institute is tending. Even 
the form of the original oligarchy has been modified by our cli- 
matic conditions; and where the form remains, it is well under- 
stood, both within and without, that the absolute authority over 
the individual congregation is to be exercised with scrupulous 
regard to the previously ascertained wishes of the congregation. — 
Bacon: Congregationalists, pp. 260, 261. 

What Is the Congregational Attitude Toward Christian 
Union? Congregationalists are, and always have been, 
friends of Christian union. It was not the intention of 
the Congregational fathers to found a sect, and every move- 
ment for denominational organization has been closely 
watched from within and jealously guarded lest it should 
in any wise widen whatever breach exists between the Con- 
gregational churches and other portions of the one Church 
of Christ. Congregationalism in its spirit is true catho- 
licity. 

Congregationalists not only believe in the spirit of 
Christian union, but in general they practice it, and they 
have been leaders in all forms of interdenominational effort, 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 43 

repeatedly sacrificing their own advantage for the sake of 
maintaining close relations in spirit with the Church of 
Christ at large. Repeatedly they have gone with others 
who would not come with them. The spirit of the denom- 
ination in its relation to the Christian Church as a whole 
is admirably set forth in the resolution adopted at the 
National Council in its opening session in Oberlin in 1871, 
which became virtually a part of its Constitution. 

The Oberlin Declaration. The members of the National Coun- 
cil, representing the Congregational churches of the United States, 
avail themselves of this opportunity to renew their previous 
declarations of faith in the unity of the Church of God. 

While affirming the liberty of our churches, as taught in the 
New Testament, and inherited by us from our fathers, and from 
martyrs and confessors of foregoing ages, we adhere to this liberty 
all the more as affording the ground and hope of a more visible 
unity in time to come. We desire and propose to co-operate with 
all the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In the expression of the same catholic sentiments solemnly 
avowed by the Council of 1865 on the Burial Hill at Plymouth, 
we wish, at this new epoch of our history, to remove, so far as 
in us lies, all causes of suspicion and alienation, and to promote 
the growing unity of counsel and of the effort among the followers 
of Christ. To us, as to our brethren, there is one body and one 
spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling. 

As little as did our fathers in their day, do we in ours, make 
a pretension to be the only churches of Christ. We find ourselves 
consulting and acting together under the distinctive name of Con- 
gregationalists because in the present condition of our common 
Christianity we have felt ourselves called to ascertain and to do 
our own appropriate part of the work of Christ's Church among 
men. 

We especially desire, in prosecuting the common work of 
evangelizing our own land and the world, to observe the common 
and sacred law, that, in the wide field of the world's evangeliza- 
tion, we do our work in friendly co-operation with all those who 
love and serve our common Lord. 

We believe in the Holy Catholic Church. It is our prayer and 
endeavor that the unity of the Church may be more and more 
apparent, and that the prayer of our Lord for his disciples may 
be speedily and completely answered, and all be one; that by 
consequence of this Christian unity in love, the world may believe 
in Christ as sent of the Father to save the world. 

From the Boston Platform. The churches of the Congrega- 
tional polity, as integral portions of Christ's Catholic Church, 
maintain all practicable communion with all other portions of the 
Church universal. While other churches differ from us in their 
internal polity, in their relations and connections with each other, 
in their forms of worship, or in the uninspired statements and 
definitions of doctrines disputed among Christians, and while we 



44 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

disown their scheme of hierarchical or synodical government, we 
acknowledge as particular churches of Christ all congregations of 
Christian worshipers that acknowledge the Holy Scriptures as 
their supreme rule of faith and practice, and Christ as the Lamb 
of God who taketh away the sin of the world. — 1865, III, i, 3. 

An Episcopal Bishop's Declaration. The only basis upon which 
the churches can come together into the unity of which the Lord 
Jesus prophesied, for which He prayed, and upon which He hinged 
the salvation of the world is the basis of Gospel republicanism of 
the purest type. The selection of this basis for church union 
would be justified by the history of organic Christianity. — Bishop 
Wm. M. Brown, of Arkansas: A Level Plan of Church Union, p. 78. 

The Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers. And so [John Robinson] 
advised us by all means . . . rather to study union than 
division. — Edward Winslow: Hypocrisie Unmasked. 

Is Congregationalism Favorable to Progress? Congre- 
gationalism has been a progressive faith. It has always 
maintained a belief in the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, 
and also in the guidance of the Holy Spirit through whom 
those Scriptures are revealed. The brief confession of faith 
incorporated in the constitution of the National Council 
recognized this principle, in the words, "Depending, as did 
our fathers, upon the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit 
to lead us into all truth." It is interesting to note that the 
Pilgrim fathers had no thought of their system as a finality, 
but were willing to be "even as stepping-stones unto others 
for the performing of so great a work." 

In a very interesting communication by Edward Wins- 
low, printed in 1646, under the title of "Hypocrisie Un- 
masked," in reply to charges which one Samuel Gorton 
had made against the colonies, we have a remarkable par- 
agraph setting forth the teaching of John Robinson, pastor 
of the Pilgrim fathers, as the Pilgrims were about to sail 
from Holland. Whether this formed a part of his fare- 
well discourse we are not sure, but that it represents the 
spirit of Robinson we cannot doubt: 

John Robinson's Faith in Progress. In the next place, for the 
wholesome counsell Mr. Robinson gave that part of the Church 
whereof he was Pastor, at their departure from him to begin the 
great worke of Plantation in New England, amongst other whol- 
some Instructions and Exhortations, hee used these expressions, 
or to the same purpose; We are now ere long to part asunder, 
and the Lord knoweth whether ever he should live to see our 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 45 

faces again: but whether the Lord had appointed it or not, he 
charged us before God and his blessed Angels, to follow him no 
further then he followed Christ. And if God should reveal any- 
thing to us by any other instrument of his, to be as ready to 
receive it, as ever we were to receive any truth by his Ministry: 
For he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light yet 
to break forth out of his holy Word. He took occasion also 
miserably to bewaile the state and condition of the Reformed 
churches, who were come to a period in Religion, and would goe 
no further then the instruments of their Reformation: As for 
example, the Lutherans they could not be drawne to goe beyond 
what Luther saw, for whatever part of God's will he had further 
imparted and revealed to Calvin, they will rather die then embrace 
it. And so also, saith he, you see the Calvinists, they stick where 
he left them: A misery much to bee lamented; For though they 
were precious shining lights in their times, yet God had not 
revealed his whole will to them: And were they now living, saith 
hee, they would bee as ready and willing to embrace further light, 
as that they had received. Here also he put us in mind of our 
Church-Covenant (at least that part of it) whereby wee promise 
and covenant with God and one with another, to receive what- 
soever light or truth shall be made known to us from his written 
Word: but withall exhorted us to take heed what we received for 
truth, and well to examine and compare, and weigh it with other 
Scriptures of truth, before we received it; For, saith he, It is 
not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such 
thick Antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge 
should breake forth at once. — Winslow: Hypocrisie Unmasked, 1646. 

Will Congregationalism Endure? Congregationalism in 
some form will endure as long as democracy endures, as 
long as Christian brotherhood endures; but Congregation- 
alism as we now know it may undergo some important 
changes in its adaptation to changing world conditions and 
conditions framed by its relation to other religious bodies. 

This being true, it might be assumed that it is almost 
a waste of time to study church government, but the very 
reverse is true. The changes which are to be wrought, 
not only in Congregationalism but in all organized Chris- 
tianity, need to be wrought under the guidance of men 
whose experience and knowledge qualify them for the task. 

The life of a church, as truly as the life of a political 
party, is one of adaptations. Old issues die out. New 
questions rise. There are new opponents, and new oppor- 
tunities. In the facing of these, political parties modify 
their organization or die, and so do churches. No church, 



46 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

not even the Roman Catholic, remains unchanged through 
the ages. Everything that lives grows, and everything that 
grows changes. 

The Congregational churches have met new conditions. 
Their situation is very different from that which confronted 
them in 1620, or even in 1865. There is a whole world of 
new issues and new problems. The industrial world has 
felt and is feeling it. The little village factory has gone 
out, and the great city factory has come in. Population 
has shifted from the country to town. Changes in the life 
of the people involve changes in their institutions. These 
changes take place in good part without definite purpose 
or guidance; they evolve under the influences of growth. 
But many of them are the result of definite thought and 
purpose. 

Even the churches that think they do not change, do 
change. The Episcopal Church has sometimes supposed it 
did not change in coming to America, but it did change. It 
dropped the Athanasian Creed, damnatory clauses and all, 
and it came nearer than most people know to dropping the 
Nicene Creed also. The Roman Catholic Church thinks it 
does not change; but it organizes Knights of Columbus 
and Sisters of Charity, and elaborates its organization as it 
thinks it needs, and adds a dogma like the infallibility of 
the Pope or the Immaculate Conception, as it has done in 
our own day. Roman Catholicism as it now exists under 
an alleged infallible pope is the youngest of all church 
polities. 

The Congregational form of organization has not 
changed more than these less elastic forms in its essential 
principles, but it makes no secret of its changes. From 
time to time it faces new issues, and endeavors to meet 
them with such adaptations as are necessary. 

We are certain to meet the necessity of changes in our 
denominational life. A group of questions rises out of the 
normal development of our great common interests. We 
have a great volume of business, educational, philanthropic, 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 47 

and missionary, which belongs to no one local church, but 
to all the Congregational churches together. We have other 
interests even larger, such as the publication of the Bible, 
and plans for vast movements in foreign lands where the 
Christian Church must stand as a unit. We have been 
doing this work well, but not so well as we hope to do it 
in future. 

Permanent Factors in Reorganization. And now, at the close 
of the nineteenth century, the Christian societies find themselves 
surrounded by new conditions. There are new intellectual condi- 
tions and new social conditions. The question which presses for 
answer and will not be evaded is how much of the form which 
grew out of, and was good for, earlier and different circumstances 
must be retained or abandoned now. The contingency which has 
to be faced is that the intellectual forces of the civilized world 
may be arrayed against Christianity, as once they were in its 
favor; and that the social forces which are drawing men into com- 
bination may draw them into combinations in which Christianity 
will have no part. For these contingencies the Church of Christ 
is prepared. It survived Gnosticism, it will survive Agnosticism. 
It survived polytheism, it will survive atheism. It survived the 
disruption of European society when the Roman Empire fell to 
pieces, it will survive the possible disruption of European society 
when, if ever, Labor wins its victory over Capital, and Socialism 
over Aristocracy. 

But the survival of the Church of Christ — that is, of the whole 
congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the world — 
is not necessarily the survival of this or that existing institution. 
After each of its earlier struggles, there was at least this mark of 
conflict, that there was a re-adaptation of form. . . . But, what- 
ever be the form in which they are destined to be shaped, the 
work which the Christian societies, as societies, have to do, in 
the days to come, is not inferior to any work which has lain 
before them in any epoch of their history. For the air is charged 
with thunder, and the times that are coming may be times of 
storm. There are phenomena beneath the surface of society, of 
which it would be hardly possible to overrate the significance. 
There is a widening separation of class from class; there is a 
growing social strain; there is a disturbance of the political 
equilibrium; there is the rise of an educated proletariat. To the 
problems which these suggest, Christianity has the key. Its un- 
accomplished mission is to reconstruct society on the basis of 
brotherhood. . . . To you and me and men like ourselves is 
committed, in these anxious days, that which is at once an awful 
responsibility and a splendid destiny — to transform this modern 
world into a Christian society, ... to gather together the 
scattered forces of a divided Christendom into a confederation in 
which organization will be of less account than fellowship, with 
one Spirit, and faith in one Lord — into a communion wide as 
human life and deep as human need — into a Church which shall 



48 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

outshine even the golden glory of its dawn by the splendor of its 
eternal noon. — Hatch: Organization of the Early Churches. 

What Form of Congregationalism Will Endure? Among 
the various forms of Congregationalism, we may distin- 
guish three principal groups. What may be called the 
Liberal group, though the name we like not nor its impli- 
cations, consists of the Unitarians and Universalists. What 
may be called, for want of a better name, the immersionist 
group, consists of the Baptists, the Disciples and the Chris- 
tian Connection. The third is the historic group of Con- 
gregational churches, sometimes called, by way of distinc- 
tion, the Orthodox churches, though this name too we dis- 
allow as being unofficial and to some extent misleading. 
It is interesting to forecast the future and to ask which of 
these three groups is most likely to represent the Congre- 
gational principle in the future. 

It is not likely that the so-called Liberal group will be 
the sole surviving monument of the Congregational prin- 
ciple. However necessary their protest may have been at 
the outset of their history (and no discussion of that ques- 
tion is pertinent to this book) and however faithfully they 
may have served the cause of Christ thus far, either in 
their own communions or beyond, they have manifested no 
power of growth or promise of future expansion which 
justifies a belief in their coming ascendency. 

Nor is it likely that the thought of coming generations 
will lay as much emphasis as has sometimes been laid in 
the past upon questions relating to the mode of baptism, 
or the terms of admission to the Lord's Supper. Close 
communion has never been practiced by the Disciples, the 
Christian Connection, or the Free Baptists, and is not prac- 
ticed by Baptists in England. It is virtually a dead letter 
in the larger and more influential Baptist churches of the 
North. Close baptism can have no logical standing after 
close communion has gone. Moreover, it is increasingly 
evident that denominations which accept the Bible as their 
sole rule of faith and practice cannot logically superimpose 



THE LARGER CONGREGATIONALISM 49 

the interpretation of a minority of Christendom upon the 
Bible and compel not only its acceptance but also the ad- 
mission that in accepting it nothing has been added to the 
words written in the book. It is increasingly difficult to 
believe that Jesus who ate the passover, not at all as com- 
manded in the Old Testament (Ex. n : io-ii), not standing 
but reclining, not with sandals on but with sandals re- 
moved, who did not hasten away after the Supper but 
remained in conversation for a considerable length of time, 
who did not burn what was left but had enough remaining 
for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and who thus 
disregarded practically every incidental form connected 
with the observance of his nation's most sacred festival, 
cared enough about forms to wish his disciples to separate 
and quarrel over them. 

No man is wise enough to say what modifications must 
come into any system in order to adapt it to the future of 
the human race, but we may feel reasonably certain that 
the democratic form of church government will be at least 
one of the permanent forms in the life of American Chris- 
tianity and there is some good reason to believe that it will 
become, as increasingly it is, the dominant form ; and fur- 
ther, there is no present reason to believe that the strong, 
free historic type represented in traditional Congregation- 
alism will pass away, or give place either to a sacramental 
or to the so-called liberal type. In church as in state we 
may still believe that government of the people, for the 
people and by the people will not perish from the earth. 

The Trend of Baptist and Disciples Practice. But the finer 
spirits in both these immersion-practicing bodies recoil at the im- 
plications of their practice. They are coming to see with some 
degree of clearness that to refuse to honor a credential from 
another congregation and to refuse to receive the bearer of it is 
to affront that other congregation, to discredit the previous 
church affiliation of the bearer of the credential, and to invalidate 
his Christian status and experience. Such a procedure is the very 
essence of sectarianism. Indeed it may properly be called con- 
gregational phariseeism, and is rightly resented by affusion-prac- 
ticing churches who know that its "holier than thou" implications 
are totally unfounded.— C~\ C. Morrison: The Meaning of Baptism, 
p. 211. 



IV. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 

What Is the Meaning of the Word Church? The New 

Testament word translated church is the Greek word 
ecclesia. It is important to remember that Jesus did not 
invent a new word, but employed one already familiar, 
with meanings well understood both by his immediate 
disciples and by their Gentile converts. This noun is de- 
rived from a verb meaning to call out. As used in the 
New Testament and in classic Greek, its primary signifi- 
cance is not that of separation, as of individuals called out 
from among the world, but of convocation, as of an 
assembly, called out from the homes of the persons assem- 
bled. The word had long been employed in Athens to 
signify the general assembly of the citizens qualified to 
vote in municipal affairs. The term as used in classic 
Greek is virtually equivalent to our modern use of the idea 
expressed in a town meeting. 

The word ecclesia or church is also found in the 
Septuagint, where it is commonly used to translate the 
Hebrew word qahal. By an interesting coincidence, the 
root of these two words is very nearly the same. Still 
further, it is not unlike the English call. The word occurs 
seventy-six times in the Greek Old Testament, or in some 
readings seventy-seven, and there are twenty instances of 
its use in the Apocrypha. As employed in the Old Testa- 
ment, the term signifies the congregation or assembly of 
Israel. The earliest instance is Lev. 8:3, which reads in 
Greek, "Assemble thou all the synagogues of the ecclesia." 
The whole company thus was gathered at the door of the 
tent of meeting. In such passages as I Samuel 19 : 20, the 
ecclesia is not the whole national assembly, but the com- 
pany of the prophets gathered together. In some instances 
it is used in the plural, as in Psalm 27: 12 and Psalm 68: 26, 
where God is praised "in the congregations." There is also 
a "congregation of the wicked," as in Proverbs 26:5. In 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 51 

some instances the term is used of an army, as in Ezekiel 
23 : 24, "And they shall come against thee with weapons, 
chariots, wagons, and with an ecclesia of peoples." Even 
in the cases of which this is an extreme illustration, the 
thought is of the assembly, of a company called together 
in response to a definite invitation or proclamation. In 
some of the Old Testament passages the ecclesia definitely 
includes old and young, the aged and little children. 

In the New Testament the word ecclesia appears one 
hundred and fifteen times. Of its particular uses there will 
be discussion hereafter. The important thing to be recog- 
nized at the outset is that it was no new word and repre- 
sented no inherently new idea. The word came to the 
Jews with definite Old Testament associations, and also 
with a connotation derived from its use in Greek politics. 
The ecclesia of a city like Athens was the whole body of 
citizens called together to legislate and to determine the 
policy of the state. It had leaders and officers, but the 
people constituted the sovereign body. So in the Old 
Testament, while there were prophets, scribes and authori- 
ties learned in the law, the ecclesia was the body of the 
people. It was this body which ratified the Law (Deut. 
27: 11-26) ; it was this body which joined in solemn cove- 
nant to obey Jehovah Josh. 24: 1-2, 16-24). The New 
Testament inherited this word with these definite connota- 
tions. 

The Ecclesia in Primitive Religions. The ecclesia, the meeting, 
the gathering together, the congregation, has a far higher impor- 
tance than for the mere purpose of unity in an outward function. 
It is the means by which that most potent agent in religious life, 
collective suggestion, is brought to bear upon the mind. It has 
been instinctively recognized by every religion, and especially by 
mystical teachers, as an indispensable element in the dissemination 
of doctrine. — Brinton: Religion of Primitive Peoples, p. 178. 

The Ecclesia in Athens and Sparta. The ecclesia at Sthens 
was the general assembly of the citizens in which they met for 
the direct exercise of their sovereign power. . . . The assembly 
of Spartan freeman possessed, in theory at least, the supreme 
authority in all matters affecting the general interests of the state. 
— Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Article 
Ecclesia. 



52 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The Meanings of the Word Before Jesus Used It. The word 
ecclesia has an important history behind it when it first appears 
in Christian literature. It was the regular designation of the 
whole body of citizens in a free Greek state, "called out," or sum- 
moned to the transaction of public business. It had then been 
employed by the Greek translators of the Old Testament as a 
natural rendering of the Hebrew qahal, the whole "congregation" 
of Israel regarded in its entirety as the people of God. . . . Thus 
the traditions of the word enabled it to appeal alike to Tews and 
Gentiles as a fitting designation of the new people of God, the 
Christian society regarded as a corporate whole. — Canon J. A. Rob- 
inson, in Encyclopedia Biblia, Article Church. 

The Life of the Christian Ecclesia. As an essential social 
being, man lives in communities, and depends upon his com- 
munities for all that makes his civilization articulate. His com- 
munities, as both Plato and Aristotle already observed, have a 
sort of organic life of their own, so that we can compare a hugely 
developed community, such as a state, either to the soul of a 
man or to a living animal. A community is not a mere collection 
of individuals. It is a sort of live unit, that has organs, as the 
body of an individual has organs. A community grows or decays, 
is healthy or diseased, is young or aged, much as any individual 
member of the community possesses such characters. — Royce: The 
Problem of Christianity, Vol. I, pp. 61, 62. 

Does the Bible Use "Church" of Things Secular? 

Neither the Old Testament nor the New restrict the word 
church to sacred uses. Treaties on church polity hitherto 
have generally fallen into the natural if not inevitable error 
of assuming that the apostles began after the death of Jesus 
with a word which had for them a definite and wholly sacred 
connotation; that the concept "the Church" stood out in 
their thought and that of their contemporaries as defining 
an institution separate from, and contrasted with, the world. 
Recent studies in the great mass of literature never till 
now available show how erroneous was this assumption, 
and have driven us back to the Bible to discover that there 
also the term is used with great flexibility. 

For instance, we discover that the Book of Acts, which 
uses the word ecclesia twenty-three times, employs it for 
a community or group or assembly, either Gentile or Jew- 
ish or Christian, and never as a term definitive of the 
Christian company as different in kind from other com- 
panies. The Lord added to the ecclesia at Jerusalem those 
that were being saved; the howling mob of Ephesus con- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 53 

stituted an ecclesia which the town-clerk addressed, declar- 
ing that such matters should be settled by a lawful ecclesia, 
that is, a regularly called meeting of the proper authorities. 
It has, indeed, become an argument, and no light one, for 
an earlier date of the Book of Acts than has sometimes 
been accorded it, that the word church is thus used with 
the freedom belonging to the period before ecclesia had be- 
come a technical term. 

The New Use of the Term. The name, the Church (qahal, 
translated ecclesia) was the happiest stroke which the primitive 
community accomplished in the way of descriptive titles (that it 
goes back to Jesus himself is not very probable, in spite of Matt. 
16: 18, 18: 17). Paul found it already in use, and indeed in three 
different senses: as a general name for those who believed in 
Christ, "those of the Church," as meaning the individual com- 
munity, and as meaning the assembling together of the com- 
munity. The primitive community took over the most solemn 
expression which Judaism used for the whole body of the people 
in relation to the worship of God. — Harnack: Constitution and Law 
of the Church, p. 32. 

Who Established the New Testament Church? The 

beginnings of the Church may be clearly traced to Jesus 
during the period of his earthly ministry. Like other teach- 
ers of the time, He gathered disciples about himself and 
instructed them in the principles of his teaching. To them 
He gradually unfolded the simple method of his system. 
Under pressure of opposition and persecution, this organi- 
zation gradually detached itself from that of the Jewish 
synagogue, and attained self-consciousness as the Church 
of Jesus Christ. 

The Church from Jesus. While we do not argue that any 
given church can appeal to Jesus as the author of its characteristic 
doctrine or constitution, the connection of the Church as such 
with Jesus is as certain as anything in human experience. — James 
Denney: The Church and the Kingdom, p. 4. 

Product of His Personality. Those subtle influences which we 
call the spirit of the age and the spirit of the teacher require for 
their detailed comprehension fuller literary data than we possess; 
but from the existing records and from the succeeding religious 
development we may infer their general character; and it appears 
that the early Church was the direct product of the teaching and 
personality of Jesus. — C. H. Toy: Judaism and Christianity, p. 427. 

Began at Pentecost. The Church was not begun until after 
the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; and it is 



54 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

never mentioned, except prospectively, before that time. — Jacob: 
Ecclesiastical Polity, p. 13. 

Church Founded on Christ. Protestantism has made the Bible, 
rather than Christ, the formal basis of the Church. Each of the 
Protestant systems has attempted to give the New Testament 
scriptures a regulative value, even in the details of church polity. 
Congregationalism in particular has modeled its usages on those 
of the primitive Church, as preserved in the narrative of the New- 
Testament. Without meaning to disparage either the Bible or 
Protestantism, we lay down the truth that the Christian Church 
is founded primarily on Jesus Christ, and only secondarily on the 
Bible. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, p. 1. 

Did Jesus Use the Word Church? It would be strange 
if Jesus had not employed a word so familiar and so con- 
venient. Yet many scholars have questioned seriously 
whether He really employed the term in any of his teach- 
ing concerning the organization instituted to perpetuate 
his work in the world. The reason for this question is 
that the word as attributed to Him is found but twice, 
both times in a single Gospel, and that the parallel pas- 
sages in the other Gospels appear to be complete without 
it. If one will take a Harmony of the Gospels and compare 
the two passages (Matt. 16:13-21; 18:15-20) with their 
parallels in the other Gospels, it will be seen that this argu- 
ment has some weight. The argument is not sustained by 
the manuscripts, however, and there is no sufficient reason 
for eliminating the two passages in which the word Church 
is attributed to Jesus. These two passages are, however, 
so incidental and so isolated that we must not read into 
them any doctrine not manifestly implied in them. For 
the most part we must learn about the New Testament 
Church from the writings and methods of the apostles. 

How Does the New Testament Use the Terms Church 
and Churches? The use of the terms church and churches 
is consistent throughout the Acts and the Epistles. Where 
a church is referred to, a local congregation is meant. 
Where the Church is referred to, it embraces the whole 
body of Christians. In speaking of groups of churches, the 
plural is consistently used. 

Local Establishment of Churches. As many as thirty-five dif- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 55 

ferent churches are — directly or indirectly — referred to by name 
in the New Testament, in addition to the general mention of 
churches "throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria" (Acts 
9:31), "through Syria, and Cilicia" (Acts 15:40-41), the "churches 
of Asia" (I Cor. 16: 19), etc. When we consider how soon after 
Christian churches began to be formed at all this language was 
used, we are naturally led to the conclusion that the apostles and 
their colaborers were accustomed to organize a church in every 
place where they found believers enough to associate themselves 
together for that purpose. This inference gains force when we 
consider that some of these churches were undoubtedly suffi- 
ciently near each other to have readily permitted their fusion into 
one, if it had not been thought essential to include in a single 
church no more believers than could regularly and conveniently 
unite together in the enjoyment of its privileges and the perform- 
ance of its duties. For example, Cenchrea was the port and sub- 
urb of Corinth, yet there were churches at both places. Hierapolis 
was visible from the theater of Laodicea, and Colosse was near — 
some think directly between — them; while Nymphas (Col. 4: 15) 
appears to have lived in, or near, Laodicea, and it is almost certain 
that Philemon was a resident of Colosse. So that there is the 
strongest probability that these five churches — at Hierapolis, 
Laodicea, Colosse, and those in the houses of Nymphas and Phil- 
emon — were all situated within a very few miles, probably within 
eye-shot, of each other. — Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 36. 

Growth of Organization. It was a long time before this con- 
ception of the one Church of God, lying back of all local bodies 
of Christians, found expression in organization. It was long be- 
fore the Church at large came under the control of a common 
authority and was ruled by a common government. During the 
period with which we are dealing, and for some generations 
thereafter, the unity of the Church universal was a unity of 
spirit rather than of body. Christians everywhere were bound 
together by a common faith, a common hope, and a common pur- 
pose. They were conscious of belonging to the elect people of 
God. But there was no central government, and no compact 
which obliged one part to submit to the will of another part, or 
of the whole. — A. C. McGiffert: The Apostolic Age, p. 638. 

How Was the Church Related to the Temple? The 

relation of the Church to the temple was very remote. The 
Church had no altar, no sacrifice, no priesthood, no ritual. 
Among the twelve apostles there was not one who was or 
ever had been a priest. We do not know a single name 
in the New Testament of a man who had a share in deter- 
mining the form or government of the Church, who had 
received sacerdotal training. Jesus was a layman. So 
were Peter and James and John and Paul and Barnabas 
and Timothy. As loyal Jews they paid visits to the temple 



56 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

at the time of its great feasts, but they possessed neither 
experience nor inclination to pattern the early church after 
it, either in government or worship. 

The early training of Jesus was in the local synagogue, 
not the temple. The same was true of every one of his 
disciples. Even Paul, who was educated in Jerusalem, had 
no training and experience in the temple apart from an ordi- 
nary Jew's share in its public worship. He was a rabbi, 
a teacher, not a priest. 

What Was the Relation of the Church to the Syna- 
gogue? The Church sustained a very intimate relation to 
the synagogue. The disciples had been educated in the 
local synagogues, which were both places of worship and 
of popular education. Jesus was accustomed to worship in 
the synagogue in Nazareth, and going from place to place 
He taught in the synagogues. The apostles in their jour- 
neys did the same. When the Church began to establish 
separate places of meeting, their forms were closely pat- 
terned after those of the synagogue. At the first it is prob- 
able they were unconscious of any essential modification, 
except for the added elements in the worship of Jesus. 

The Synagogue. Jesus taught in the synagogue, an institution 
of which we first hear in Psalm 74: 8, although it is probably older; 
in fact, it perhaps originated in the time of the Exile. Tiele has 
accordingly conjectured that the Persian mode of worship was 
taken as the model, since in Persia worship was not limited to 
one spot, but could be held in various places. ("De godsdienst 
van Zarathrusta," 1864, 283). But this theory is by no means 
necessary, as Stave has shown in detail ("Einfluss," 132 seq.). 
The synagogue may very well have risen merely from the needs 
of the Jewish people. — Clemen: Christianity and Its Non-Jewish 
Sources, 209. 

How Churches Began. In the primitive institutions we doubt- 
less see the result of the Lord's own directions; we certainly feel 
the breath of his Spirit. And yet there is some evidence to show 
that the first communities took shape on the model of the syna- 
gogue, which was the most active and ubiquitous institution of 
Judaism. If the qahal was the pattern of the church in the larger 
sense, the synagogue was naturally the pattern of the church in 
the narrower and local sense. In the LXX ecclesia and synagogue 
are almost interchangeable terms, and, as we saw, they were some- 
times combined in the form, "the synagogueof the church." Evi- 
dently where the converts were all of Jewish origin the church 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 57 

was called the synagogue (Jas. 2:2). — R. F. Horton: The Early- 
Church, p. 25. 

Some Synagogues Became Churches. It appears highly prob- 
able, I might say morally certain, that wherever a Jewish syna- 
gogue existed that was brought — the whole or the chief part of 
it — to embrace the Gospel, the apostles did not then so much 
form a Christian church or congregation as to make an existing 
one Christian, by introducing the Christian sacraments and wor- 
ship, and establishing whatever regulations were requisite for the 
newly adopted faith, leaving the machinery of government un- 
changed; the rulers of synagogues, elders and other officers being 
already provided in the existing institutions. — Coleman: Church 
Without a Bishop, pp. 43, 44. 

Synagogue and Church. As the Christian church rests histori- 
cally on the Jewish church, so Christian worship and the congre- 
gational organization reston that of the synagogue and cannot be 
well understood without it. — Schaff: History Christian Church, i, 
p. 456. 

Synagogue Congregational. The synagogue worship was local, 
congregational, weekly; laymen, women, and children could and 
did meet every Sabbath to hear the law and the prophets and to 
offer praise and prayer. A building suited to the needs of the 
place was built. The worship consisted in reading the law and 
prophets, the nineteen prayers, the chanting, the preaching or ex- 
pounding of the Scriptures, and the amen responded by the people. 
"Any Jew of age might get up to read the lesson, offer prayer, 
and address the congregation." Each synagogue elected its own 
officers, the ruler and his two associates, the three almoners, or 
deacons, and the council. "Each synagogue formed an independ- 
ent republic, but kept up a regular correspondence with other 
synagogues. It was also a civil and religious court, and had power 
to excommunicate and to scourge offenders." All the affairs of a 
synagogue, worship and government, were under the exclusive 
control of laymen. No priest had any part in them. Each syna- 
gogue was independent of the rest, whether taken singly or col- 
lectively. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 34. 

How Was the Church Related to Gentile Organizations? 
The significance of this question was wholly overlooked or 
ignored by early writers on church polity, who assumed a 
Judaic origin for the entire organization of the Apostolic 
Church. To a large extent the development of the early 
Church was in lands outside Palestine, and among people 
who had little knowledge of either temple or synagogue. 
Studies of modern writers have shown that the primitive 
congregations in Gentile lands were probably much influ- 
enced in their form of organization by the guilds and other 
organizations of which Christians in these lands had pre- 
viously been members. 



58 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The Church and Gentile Organizations. It is almost impossible 
to suppose that these Gentile Christians, who had no previous 
experience in the working of the Jewish eldership system, either 
in its developed form in the synagogue presbyterate, or in its 
primitive seven men of the Hebrew village community, could 
easily understand its application to Christian societies of which 
they were members. The probabilities are that the organization 
in the churches owed very little to the Jewish eldership, but had 
special roots of its own, and that we are directed to these roots 
by this name of bishop or overseer. This distinction did not 
escape the keen eye of Dr. Lightfoot. He says that the term 
bishop is applied only to office-bearers in Gentile or Hellenic 
churches. He can only conjecture how it came into use, and from 
what organization it was borrowed. 

"But," he says, "if we may assume that the directors of the 
religious and social clubs among the heathen were commonly 
called bishops, it would occur naturally, if not to the Gentile 
Christians themselves at all events to their heathen associates, as 
a fit designation for the presiding members of the new society. 
The infant Church of Christ, which appeared to the Jews as a 
synagogue, would be regarded by the heathen as a confraternity." 

It was reserved for Dr. Hatch to lead us far beyond the halting 
statements of Dr. Lightfoot. He has made use of the stores of 
information accumulated by the recent study of ancient inscrip- 
tions, and has collected evidences of the number and objects of 
associations or confraternities existing under the empire. There 
were trade guilds, dramatic, athletic, and burial clubs. Many 
cities had municipal councils. Above all, there existed religious 
associations for the practice of the rites of a special cult. Just 
as within a common Judaism sects and parties had their separate 
synagogues, so under the universal state religion of the Roman 
Empire there were many forms of pagan religion and many modes 
of worship. The state religion had its colleges of priests, its 
temples, and its public sacrifices; those private religions had their 
confraternities. The Christians were always exhorted to unite 
in close fellowship with each other in a fashion not without ex- 
ternal resemblance to those social societies or religious confra- 
ternities. A large portion of the Gentile Christian converts must 
have once belonged to such associations, and were familiar with 
their working. When we find that, among a number of other 
terms used, the general meeting of an association was called an 
ecclesia and a synod and that the officials were sometimes called 
episcopi, we have almost as strong evidence to connect the organi- 
zation of Gentile Christian communities with those sodalitia, munic- 
ipal councils, and confraternities of the empire, as we have to 
establish a relation between the organization of the Jewish Chris- 
tians with the synagogue presbyterate. — T. M. Lindsay: Article in 
London Contemporary Review, October, 1895. 

That the New Testament Church inherited anything 
from fraternal, municipal, and commercial organizations 
among the Gentiles was hardly suspected by earlier author- 
ities in church polity. Our knowledge on this subject is 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 59 

all recent, but remarkably suggestive. The Romans had 
invented that artificial person known in law as the corpo- 
ration. Roman laws sometimes favored and at other times 
sought to repress and even to exterminate corporations 
within the empire. Beside these bodies of which the law 
took notice were social and fraternal clubs and labor 
unions, as we now would call them. The progress of Chris- 
tianity brought it more and more into contact with Gentile 
life. As Christianity among the Jews related itself to and 
took on much of the form and color of the synagogue, so 
Christianity among the Gentiles, who had no synagogues, 
followed more or less closely the not dissimilar but usually 
free and democratic type of organization of these guilds 
and societies, of which many of the newly converted Chris- 
tians were already members. 

Churches Evolved from Gentile Guilds. There are some, no 
doubt, who will think that to account for the organization of the 
Church in this way is to detract from the nobility of its birth, or 
from the divinity of its life. There are some who can see a 
divinity in the thunder-peal, which they cannot see in the serenity 
of a summer noon, or in the growth of the flowers of spring. 
. . . And so, it may be — nor is it a derogation from its grandeur 
to say that it was — out of antecedent and, if you will, lower forms, 
out of existing elements of human institutions, by the action of 
existing forces of human society, swayed as you will by the breath- 
ing of the Divine Breath, controlled as you will by the Providence 
which holds in its hand the wayward wills of men no less than 
the courses of the stars, but still out of elements, and by the 
action of forces, analogous to those which have resulted in other 
institutions of society, and other forms of government, came into 
being that widest and strongest and most enduring of institutions 
which bears the sacred name of the Holy Catholic Church. The 
divinity which clings to it is the divinity of order. — Hatch: Bampton 
Lectures, pp. 19 et seq. 

Is the Church, the Embodiment of a Social Ideal? The 

spirit of the individual inhabits and expresses itself through 
a body. So, also, the organic social life of those who have 
attained to like precious faith in Christ embodies and ex- 
presses that life. The Christian does not and cannot realize 
the full meaning of his religion in isolation. Part, but not 
all, of the Christian life belongs to the individual soul. 
Not only does the social life of Christians demand or- 



60 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ganization, but such organization multiplies the power and 
efficiency of Christians. Carlyle truly said, "A man, be the 
heavens praised, is sufficient for himself; yet were ten men, 
united in love, capable of being and doing what ten thou- 
sand singly would fail in!" 

According to the plain teaching of the New Testament, 
as interpreted by Congregationalists, the kingdom of God 
which Jesus established is a divine democracy. The law 
given from heaven was ratified by the whole body of the 
people. The Church is the embodiment of the social ideal 
of the Gospel; and that ideal is not something secondary, 
imposed upon the individual life by force of authority, but 
normally belonging to it. 

It is increasingly evident that the early Christians inter- 
preted their life in the Gospel socially rather than in terms 
of isolated personal experience. After the departure of 
Jesus they found themselves bereft indeed but not isolated. 
With no form of prescribed organization, they yet possessed 
a certain corporate unity. Their experiences were not 
wholly personal. To a large degree they were experiences 
held in common as members of a beloved community. 
Membership in the church was all but inevitable to them 
with their views- and experiences. 

The Christian in the Church. The Christian must be a member 
of Christendom, of the ecclesia, of the Church. Hence the ques- 
tion: Where is the ecclesia? The apostolic age answered the 
question thus: Where two or three are gathered together in 
Christ's name, there is the ecclesia, the church. For Christ has 
said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). The Lord is 
risen indeed! He is alive for evermore! That is the victorious 
creed of Christendom. The Lord is in the midst of them who 
believe on Him, in his divine omnipresence, He that is, and was, 
and is to come, the Almighty. Therefore He is and works every- 
where wheresoever two or three are gathered together in his 
name. Where Christ is there is the Church. The Church appears 
and works in every congregation of believers. — Rudolf Sohm: Out- 
lines of Church History, p. 32. 

Christ and the Church. The common sense of the Christian 
Church had three problems to solve. First: It was loyal to the 
universal spiritual community; and upon this loyalty, according to 
its view, salvation depended. But this universal community must 
be something concrete and practically efficacious. Hence the 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 61 

visible Church had to be organized as the appearance on earth of 
God's kingdom. For what the parables had life mysterious about 
the object and the life of love, an authoritative interpretation, valid 
for believers of those times, must be found, and was found in the 
visible Church. 

Secondly, The life, the unity, the spirit of the Church had 
meanwhile to be identified with the person and with the spirit of 
the risen and ascended Lord, whom the visions of the first disciples 
had made henceforth a central fact in the belief of the Church. 

The supernatural being whose body was now the Church, 
whose spirit was thus identified with the will and with the mind 
of a community, had once, as man, walked the earth, had really 
suffered and died. But since He had risen and ascended, hence- 
forth — precisely because He was as the spirit whose body was 
this community, the Church — He was divine. Such was the essen- 
tial article of the new faith. — Royce: The Problem of Christianity, 
Vol. I, pp. 201, 202. 

How Were the New Testament Churches Founded? 

The New Testament churches were founded by the coming 
together of the followers of Christ in local communities, in 
which these scattered disciples were gathered. Sometimes 
the formation of a church was preceded by the preaching of 
an apostle or by the visit of other disciples from Jerusalem. 
Sometimes Christians, fleeing from persecution, gathered 
about them other Christians in the places where they found 
themselves, and began their small and obscure assemblies 
without definite leadership. In some instances, a strong 
church came into being without the recorded visit or appar- 
ent knowledge of any member of the apostolic group. The 
church in Antioch appears to have been such a church, and 
as thus established, before it received formal recognition in 
Jerusalem, it ordained its own missionaries to preach the 
gospel in other places (Acts 13:1-3). While this church 
submitted important questions to councils representative 
of the churches, including that in Jerusalem, it was in no 
way subject to that or to any other outside organization. 
The church at Antioch at this time was larger, stronger, 
and more important to the future of Christianity than that 
of Jerusalem or any other one church. 

With What Organization Was the Church Established? 
So far as the Christian Church is authorized or implied in 
the words of Jesus, the organization appears exceedingly 



62 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

simple and flexible. His one definite word concerning gov- 
ernment indicates that final authority rested with the local 
congregation. "If he will not hear the church, let him be 
unto thee as a heathen man and a publican" (Matt. 18: 17). 

The Universal Church. We maist constantlie belief that God 
preservit, instructit, multiplait, honourit, decorirt and frome death 
callit to lyfe His Kirk in all aiges, fra Adam till the coming of 
Chryst Jesus in the flesche. — John Knox: Works, ii, pp. 98, 99. 

The Local Church. The right to enact their laws, and the 
entire government of the church, was voted in each individual 
association of which the church was composed. — Allgemeine Kirche 
Zeitung, 1833, cited in Coleman's Church Without a Bishop, p. 25. 

No Central Government. There is nothing in the New Testa- 
ment to suggest that the apostles intended that separate Christian 
assemblies should be drawn into a larger ecclesiastical organiza- 
tion under a central government. The church at Jerusalem had 
no control over the church at Antioch; nor were Jerusalem and 
Antioch under the government of any supreme ecclesiastical au- 
thority. The churches which Paul and Barnabas founded in Lyca- 
onia, Pisidia, and Pamphilia on their first missionary journey were 
independent of the church at Antioch and of each other. In every 
city there was a church, and in every church there were elders 
(Acts 14: 21-23), but the narrative of Luke gives the impression 
that every church stood apart. No attempt was made to bring 
them into any ecclesiastical confederation or to place them under 
a common government. In the account of Paul's second visit to 
this part of Asia Minor we are told that the "churches" — not "the 
church" — "were strengthened in the faith and increased in num- 
bers daily" (Acts 16:5). They were standing apart still, and Paul 
did nothing to draw them together. — Dale: Cong. Manual, p. 71. 

Did the Apostles Rule the Churches? The apostles 
gave suggestions and directions, but government was by 
the local church. Not only is it true that the apostles did 
not assume ecclesiastical authority, but it is apparent that 
there were those who would have resented it if it had been 
assumed. When Paul was constrained to give the grounds 
of his apostleship, he caused it to be distinctly understood 
that he acknowledged no ecclesiastical authority for his 
ministry. In his epistle to the Galatians he declares this 
truth with unmistakable emphasis (Gal. 1:15-17). 

Later, when Paul went to Jerusalem, he declares that 
those who were in positions of influence there had no 
authority over him. He names James, Peter and John as 
those "who seemed to be pillars/' but he says, "whatsoever 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 63 

they were, it maketh no matter to me; God respecteth no 
man's person/' The liberty which Paul claimed for him- 
self in this matter, he claimed for his fellow Christians also. 
That liberty involved complete freedom from ecclesiastical 
tyranny, even though it had been that of the original apos- 
tles of Christ. Still further, when controversies arose, as 
one soon arose concerning Peter's fellowship with Gentiles, 
Peter claimed no authority for himself or for the apostles 
beyond that of his brethren in the church, but defended his 
conduct before the apostles and the brethren (Acts n: i). 
The whole body joined in the expression of approval of 
that which Peter had done. 

The sending forth of representatives from one church 
to another was not done by the apostles but by the church, 
as is shown in the mission of Barnabas from the church at 
Jerusalem to that at Antioch (Acts 11:32). 

Our most complete illustration of the way in which the 
early Church settled any great question of concern to the 
whole Christian body is given to us in Acts 15, where 
representatives from various churches gathered at Jeru- 
salem to consider the new questions which had arisen out 
of the conversion of Gentiles and the organization of 
churches composed of other than Jewish Christians. This 
chapter and the account which Paul gives of the same inci- 
dent in his epistle to the Galatians furnish a complete refu- 
tation of any claim that the apostles attempted to exercise 
ecclesiastical authority, or that such authority would have 
been acknowledged by the churches (Acts 15; Galatians 2). 

John Milton's Assertion. John Milton shows conclusively that 
the apostles could not possibly have been bishops by office, i. e. 
moderators or governors of the churches, and so that modern 
diocesan bishops are no successors of the apostles. — Eikonoklates, 
p. 135. 

Apostles Not Officers in Local Church. Though they had cer- 
tain duties to perform, yet they were not officers in any churches. — 
Leonard Bacon: Church Manual, p. 36. 

The Apostles Not Ecclesiastical Rulers. They had bishoprics, 
according to the Scriptures; but these had little or no analogy to 
the supposed duties and prerogatives of modern prelates. — Cum- 
mings: Cong. Diet, Art. Apostles. 



64 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Had the Apostolic Church a Hierarchy? The Apostolic 
Church had no hierarchy ; it had no priesthood, no sacrifice, 
it recognized no ecclesiastical authority above the local 
church. All hierarchal functions that have manifested 
themselves in the Church originated after the time of the 
apostles and in contravention of the apostolic method and 
spirit. The only priests mentioned in the New Testament 
are the Jewish priests, and they are regarded with little 
favor; Jesus, the great High Priest who offered a complete 
and final sacrifice (Hebrews 3:1), and the whole company 
of believers (Rev. 1:6; 20:6). 

No Sacerdotal System. Above all, it has no sacerdotal system. 
It interposes no sacrificial tribe or class between God and man, 
by whose intervention alone God is reconciled and man forgiven. 
Each individual member holds personal communion with the 
divine head. — Bishop Lightfoot on the Ministry, p. 179. 

How Were the New Testament Churches Governed? 

The New Testament contains no complete manual for 
church government. The references to government are 
incidental, and are found scattered through the Acts of the 
Apostles and the Epistles, particularly those of Paul. 
These references, however, are significant, both for what 
they state and what they imply. 

The first official act of the Church as a body was that 
of selecting a successor to Judas. The new apostle was 
not chosen by his fellow apostles, acting separate and apart 
from the Church. The Apostolic College was not a self- 
perpetuating body. The whole body of the church, to the 
number of 120, were gathered together, and Peter laid the 
matter before the congregation, who selected two candi- 
dates as the expression of the preference of the whole body 
of that local church and prayed for divine guidance in the 
choice of one of these two (Acts 1 : 15-26). 

The next occasion where the Church is known to have 
acted in the choice of officers was that of the election of 
deacons. Here again the apostles called the entire congre- 
gation of the disciples together, and did not themselves 
assume the right either to compel the appointment of a 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 65 

new officiary, or to determine who the new officers should 
be, but laid before the congregation the expediency of the 
matter, and charged the entire body with the responsibility 
of choosing the deacons (Acts 6: 1-6). 

The story of the first preaching of the Gospel outside 
of Jerusalem is significant in the fact of its entire silence 
as to any centralization of authority in the apostles or any 
group of their successors. Christian men went everywhere 
preaching the Gospel, and wherever they went little groups 
of believers sprang up who called themselves of "the way." 
The first name of Christianity was really "the Road" (Acts 
19:9, 23; 24:14, 22\ 16:17; 18:26). The disciples first 
gained recognition in the outer world as a body distinct 
from Judaism and entitled to a name, in Antioch (Acts 
11:26). Some of their little detached communities, espe- 
cially in the larger towns, were visited occasionally by a 
Christian leader of distinction, who gave advice on local 
problems, but they governed themselves. But in sympathy 
they counted themselves members of a common com- 
munion. 

Each Congregation a Church. The New Testament, looking at 
the principle of the new life, and the high calling of the Christian, 
styles all believers brethren, saints, a spiritual temple, a peculiar 
people, a holy and royal priesthood. It is remarkable that Peter 
in particular should apply the term clerus not to the ministerial 
order as distinct from the laity, but to the community; thus regard- 
ing every Christian congregation as a spiritual tribe of Levi, a 
peculiar people, holy to the Lord. — Schaff: Church History, i, 486. 

What Were the Officers of the Apostolic Church? The 

officers of the Apostolic Church were bishops and deacons. 
The bishops were also called elders (presbyters) or pastors 
(shepherds). Only these two kinds of permanent offices 
are known in the New Testament. The lists of diversified 
"gifts" in I Corinthians 12:28-31 and Ephesians 4:11-12 
are not catalogues of distinct and permanent offices. There 
is no scriptural evidence of a fixed gulf between elders and 
bishops, nor any reason to believe that deacons constituted 
a lower order of the clergy. 

Two Kinds of Officers. It remaineth therefore, that the ordi- 



66 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

nary Officers of the Church which are to continue to the comming 
of Christ Jesus, are either Elders (whom the Apostles calleth also 
Bishops, Titus 1:5, 7; Acts 20:17-28) or Deacons. — John Cotton: 
Way of the Churches, p. 10. 

Bishops and Deacons. When we look at the settled state of 
the churches, after charisms had generally ceased — when the minds 
of Christians were no longer elevated and enlightened by extraor- 
dinary influences of the Spirit — when all that remained of the 
gifted brethren appeared in the elders, men favored with less re- 
markable manifestations; we shall find no other office-bearers be- 
sides them, than those attending to the secular affairs. Bishops 
and deacons were intended to continue in the churches of Christ; 
other offices were temporary. — Davidson: Ecclesiastical Polity of 
the New Testament, p. 153. 

Pastors Were Bishops. Finding the first Epistle to Timothy 
passing from the Directions for the good Conduct of Bishops, 
immediately to those for that of Deacons, without any mention of 
Presbyters distinct from them, is it not as evident as a Noonday 
Sun can make any thing in the world unto us, that there are only 
those Two Ordinary Officers instituted by the Lord for the Service 
of His Churches, and that there is no Institution for any other 
Bishops, but the Pastors of Particular Congregations? — Cotton 
Mather: Some Seasonable Inquiries (A. D. 1723), p. 2. 

Bishops the Same as Elders. All the distinction we can admit 
between bishops and presbyters then, is that the latter was par- 
ticularly the name of dignity, the former the name designating 
the function, or particular sphere of activity. . . . Besides these, 
we find only one other church office in the apostolic age — that of 
deacons. — Neander: History of the Christian Church, Vol. I, pp. 
186, 188. 

A Pope's Testimony. We consider the eldership and the 
deaconship as the sacred orders. Here indeed are all that the 
primitive church had. For these alone have we apostolic author- 
ity. — Urban I. 

Are We Sure of the Identity of Bishops and Presbyters? 

Congregationalists are certain of this identity and so are 
the scholars of other denominations. 

Bishops and Presbyters. The public functions of religion were 
solely intrusted to the established ministers of the Church, the 
bishops and the presbyters; two appellations which, in their first 
origin, appear to have distinguished the same office, and the same 
order of persons. The name of presbyter was expressive of their 
age, or rather of their gravity and wisdom. The title of bishop 
denoted their inspection over the faith and manners of Christians 
who were committed to their pastoral care. — Gibbon: Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire. 

Bishop and Presbyter Identical. The scanty and unsatisfactory 
evidence of the first century points to the practical permanence 
of the episcopos as already usual, but is inconsistent with the idea 
that the episcopos was considered as separate from his co-presbyters, 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 67 

as he continued for centuries to call them. He was only a pres- 
byter on whom certain duties had been imposed. — Ramsay: Church 
in the Roman Empire, p. 368. 

From "The Morning Star of the Reformation." I boldly assert 
one thing, namely, that in,the primitive church, or in the time of 
Paul, two orders of the clergy were sufficient; that is, a priest and 
a deacon. In like manner I maintain that in the time of Paul, 
presbyter and bishop were names of the same office. All other 
degrees and orders have their origin in the pride of Caesar. — John 
Wycklif (1324-1384). 

Martin Luther's Testimony. It is proved that bishop and 
presbyter are the same; therefore by divine law, the Pope is 
neifher superior to the bishop nor the bishop superior to the 
presbyters. — Lutheri Opera, i, p. 279. 

John Calvin's Testimony. In giving the name of bishops, 
presbyters and pastors indiscriminately to those who govern 
churches, I have done it on the authority of Scripture, which uses 
the words as synonymous. — Institutes, iii, p. 64. 

An Eminent Episcopalian. The English version of Acts 20:28 
has hardly dealt fairly with the sacred text in rendering episcopous 
overseers; whereas it ought there, as in all other places, to have 
been bishops, that the fact that elders and bishops having been 
apostolically synonymous might be apparent to the ordinary Eng- 
lish reader, which now it is not. — Dean Alford: Commentary, Vol. 
II, p. 250. 

Bishops and Presbyters. The weight of evidence has rendered 
practically indisputable the identity of the primitive bishops and 
presbyters; that, in the course of the second century, the bishop 
came to stand above the rest of the presbyters of the local church; 
that "the episcopate grew by the force of circumstances, in the 
order of Providence, to satisfy a felt want"; that "the supremacy 
of the episcopate was the result of the struggle with Gnosticism"; 
that "dioceses in the later sense of the term did not yet exist" in 
the fourth century; and that the first diocese was that of which 
Alexandria was the center. — Vice-Prinipal Edwin Hatch: Origin of 
Early Christian Churches, pp. 38, 82, 83, 98, 99, 215, 194, 195. 

Clement of Rome. The interchangeable use of bishop and 
presbyter is illustrated in many of the Fathers, as in Clement of 
Rome, who, writing to protest against the summary removal of 
certain presbyters in the church at Corinth, declares that "those 
presbyters who finished their course before now are blessed," 
that is, for having died before they lived to suffer this injustice, 
and describes the honor of the office of those presbyters in ex- 
tended discussions like this: 

Our apostles know also that through our Lord Jesus Christ 
that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this cause, 
therefore, since they had received perfect foreknowledge, they 
appointed those who have been already mentioned. . . . We 
consider therefore that it is not just to remove from their ministry 
those who were appointed by them, or later on by other eminent 
men with the consent of the whole church, and have ministered 
to the flock of Christ without blame, humbly, peacefully and dis- 



68 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

interestedly. . . . For our sin is not small if we eject from 
the episcopate those who have blamelessly and holily offered its 

sacrifices. Clement i, 44. Continuing the argument through 

many succeeding sections of his letter he also speaks of the 
attempt to remove these "bishops" as "a revolt against the pres- 
byters" (47); and exhorts "Let the flock of Christ be at peace 
along with the appointed presbyters" (54); and again (in 57), "Do 
ye who began this sedition submit yourselves to the presbyters." 
The apostles received the Gospel from our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Jesus the Christ was sent from God. The Christ therefore is from 
God, and the apostles from the Christ. . . . They preached 
from district to district, and they appointed their first converts, 
testing them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons to the future 
believers. And this was no new method, for many years before 
had bishops and deacons been written of; for the Scripture saith, 
"I will establish their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons 
in faith." — Clement of Rome, i, 42. 

Did Every Church Have a Bishop and Also Presbyters? 

At first no one church appears to have had a single officer 
called either presbyter or bishop ; rather there were groups 
of such men in each of the larger churches, sometimes 
called by the one name, sometimes by the other, sometimes 
by both interchangeably, but in no case did these bishops 
or presbyters exercise individual dominion over a group of 
churches. Each group belonged to a single church and was 
chosen out of its own membership. 

The apostles and the itinerant evangelists occupied a 
somewhat unique position by reason of their travels among 
the churches, but officially they were merely elders. Peter 
did not say, "The elders among you I exhort, being over 
you as a bishop," but "The elders among you I exhort, 
who also am an elder." Paul's instruction to Timothy and 
Titus was not to ordain a bishop in every district, but to 
ordain bishops in every city, that is, to assist the local 
church in finding competent leaders. 

Gradually, however, the two names came to stand for 
a somewhat different function. In a local presbytery or 
group of elders some one would be chosen to preside or to 
represent the church in matters of particular importance, 
and in time this officer came to be spoken of as the episcopos. 
He did not cease to be a presbyter, nor did this special 
function that came to be implied in the title exalt him above 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 69 

his fellow presbyters. He was the presiding presbyter, 
primus inter pares. 

Why Were There Two Titles for One Office? Such 
knowledge as has been available toward an answer to this 
question is relatively recent. Apparently the two titles 
grew up somewhat independently. The title episcopos 
appears to have come first into use in Gentile churches, 
where it was derived from the familiar title of the presid- 
ing officer in secular organizations. It has been common 
to speak of James, the brother of the Lord, as bishop of 
Jerusalem, but we have no reason to think that the title 
bishop was used in Jerusalem in the first beginnings of the 
Church. Elder was the more familiar term in the churches 
that grew out of Judaism. It meant primarily an aged 
man, just as senator does, but had come to be applied to 
men of experience called into positions of responsibility 
and counsel, and was a term frequently used in Jewish life. 
The Council at Jerusalem described in Acts 15 provided 
for a difference in the standards of Gentile and Jewish 
churches. While the differences agreed upon related 
wholly to the extent of their observance of the Jewish law, 
it would have been in nowise strange if those differences 
had been carried also into their forms of organization. 
There is not the slightest reason to suppose that any of the 
apostles regarded the form of organization as of such prime 
importance that all churches must be organized on an 
identical basis. The local churches were independent, self- 
governing bodies, and their forms and methods were more 
or less flexible, but there was an important system of inter- 
course among the early churches. Not only did persecu- 
tion drive many of the early Christians from Jerusalem, but 
the conditions of Jewish life had already scattered large 
numbers of the Jews, and continued to scatter Jewish 
Christians, through all parts of the Roman Empire. 
Wherever the first preachers of Christianity went they were 
likely to find little companies of Jewish people, generally 
with a synagogue, with its free and democratic worship 



70 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

and government, subject to no system of external or cen- 
tralized supervision and control. The synagogues them- 
selves differed more or less, and the churches that in many 
cases grew out of them exhibited certain characteristics of 
individuality, but as the churches detached themselves from 
the synagogues or grew up as they did in some cases with 
no antecedent relation to particular synagogues, they de- 
veloped a character of their own, and a tendency toward 
uniformity which was stimulated by rather frequent visits 
from traveling evangelists and sometimes from apostles. 
While none of these men assumed the control of local 
churches, their advice was naturally held in somewhat high 
regard. That it carried with it no authority is sometimes 
almost painfully evident, but it was a counterbalancing 
check on excessive individuality in church organization and 
life. 

Bishop Not Originally an Ecclesiastical Officer. The better 
knowledge of the primitive church which modern study of Chris- 
tian institutions has brought to us, according to Professor Hatch 
in his Bampton Lectures, is showing that the "historic episcopacy" 
was not originally the ecclesiastical institution that is claimed for 
it, but was simply an office in the primitive church, the bishop 
being in the beginning financial administrator or administrators 
of the Christian societies. "There was a general tendency," says 
Professor Hatch, "in the early centuries of the Christian era, 
toward the formation of associations, especially of religious asso- 
ciations. It was consequently natural that the early converts to 
Christianity should combine together. It was a time of great 
social strain, and the pressure of poverty made almsgiving in these 
societies a primary duty. The administrative officers, by whom 
funds were received and alms dispensed, were called epimelatai or 
episcopoi, the last named of which was adopted by the correspond- 
ing officers of the Christian societies." Originally this was the 
name of a body of officers, but in time came to be in the Christian 
societies the title of a single officer, the episcopos. "This was due," 
says Professor Hatch, "to the fact that the offerings of the early 
Christians were made publicly to the president in the assembly, 
who was also primarily responsible for their distribution." The 
importance of the functions of the president as chief administrator 
increased largely as the Christian societies grew. The prelatical 
character of the episcopos or bishop was of gradual development. — 
Canon Henson: Westminster Sermons, 1910. 

James Not a Bishop. That it was Jesus' relations who were 
pushed to the front cannot be merely the consequence of the high 
esteem in which James "the Just" was held. The new constitution 
of the Church in Jerusalem, with James at the head, and pres- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 71 

byters, possibly twelve (see Zahn, p. 297 note) must be understood 
in such a way that James corresponds to the high priest (see 
Hegesippus in Eusebius ii, 23, 26, "he alone was permitted to enter 
into the holy place") and the presbyters to the Sanhedrin (see 
Schurer, Jewish People in the Time of Christ, Div. I, Vol. I, pp. 
165 et seq., 149 et seq.). Perhaps the other Christian communities 
in Palestine already possessed an organization based on elders, and 
this may have exercised some influence on Jerusalem. But James, 
as chief ruler, had a unique position above all the other presbyters. 
His throne was still shown in the time of Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., 
vii, 19) and even the Gentile-Christian tradition, not the Jewish- 
Christian tradition only, mentions him as first Bishop of Jerusalem, 
appointed by Christ and the apostles. But that James bore the 
title "bishop" is open to strong doubt, since the title does not 
occur within Judaism. — Harnack: Const, and Law of Church, pp. 
34-35. 

What Is the Historic Episcopate? Into discussions of 
the reunion of Christendom come frequent references to 
"the historic episcopate." The fourth condition of reunion 
as offered by the Lambeth Quadrilateral was "the historic 
episcopate locally adapted." Just how it was to be locally 
adapted was a question difficult to determine. In the Angli- 
can Church the historic episcopate is vested in bishops ele- 
vated into a rank above other clergy; in Presbyterian and 
Congregational churches the earlier conception of the 
episcopate as vested in the local pastorate obtains. 

That in the New Testament the bishop and the elder 
are one and the same is self-evident, and all but universally 
conceded. But modern study of the development of New 
Testament origins shows us that while the term elder was 
distinctly Jewish, that of bishop was as definitely Gentile. 
Not only did not Jesus use the word bishop, so far as we 
know, but it is entirely likely that He never heard it used. 
The term came into the early Church by way of its Gentile 
organizations. In the mystery religions and in the trade 
unions the presiding officer was the bishop. 

These very recently known facts make most former dis- 
cussions of the historic episcopate seem rather foolish. 
Instead of the apostles assuming the title immediately after 
the resurrection, and causing the name to be spread from 
Jerusalem as a center, the term was one with which the 
apostles became gradually, and perhaps reluctantly, familiar 



72 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

through contact with the Gentile world. It appears to have 
been true that there were bishops in the churches recently 
formed from heathenism a considerable time before there 
were any bishops in Jerusalem or Judea. 

Although our knowledge of the evolution of the early 
Church is very fragmentary, it is apparent that the tend- 
ency in Jerusalem was to keep as closely to Jewish forms 
as possible, and there was an evident movement there to 
shape the organization of that central church after the 
organization of the temple, which certainly had no notion 
of bishops. 

The "historic episcopate" began in heathenism; was 
merged into Gentile Christianity in its contact with the 
heathen world as standing for an idea essentially similar to 
that for which the leadership of the Church was to stand. 
The bishops in the Gentile-Christian churches were to those 
churches what the elders were to the Jewish-Christian 
churches. This was the situation at the time when the 
greater part of our New Testament was written, and there- 
fore the two terms are used interchangeably. In subse- 
quent evolution one term rose in dignity above the other, 
and it was the Gentile and not the Jewish term that took 
the higher rank. 



V. ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 

How Did the Church Lose Its Apostolic Simplicity? 

The changes from apostolic simplicity were gradual, and 
occurred under a wide variety of influences. They were 
well under way when the close affiliation of the Church 
with the Roman government completed the process by plac- 
ing the throne of the Bishop of Rome side by side with that 
of the emperor. But in the beginning it was not so. Each 
church was independent, and each bishop was a member of 
his own local church. 

The change was gradual, and much more rapid in some 
sections than in others. It came first in Asia Minor, and 
it was several centuries before it came to its fruition in 
the important church in Alexandria. But the process is 
easily traced. 

First, in the local church, one of the several presbyters 
rose above the others as chief presbyter, or presiding pres- 
byter. In the churches where the title bishop had been 
used of all, it came gradually to be applied only to the 
foremost of the men in the ministry. Then in a district 
the principal church rose to a certain position of leadership 
and authority, and its chief pastor exercised a certain broth- 
erly oversight, which in time came to be an ecclesiastical 
control over the neighboring smaller, and often dependent, 
churches and minsters. The "metropolitan" was a super- 
intending bishop of a district tributary to his large central 
church. The presbyters in his own church fell into a rank 
subordinate to his own; the presbyters of the neighboring 
churches surrendered their right to be called bishops of 
the same rank with himself. 

As the large and centrally located churches rose first 
in influence and then in authority over the smaller churches 
in their respective districts, distinctions arose among those 
larger churches and their bishops. There were greater 
bishops and lesser bishops, among whom gradually the 



74 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

bishop nearest to the sources of political power gradually 
came to assume an authority above all other bishops. The 
center moved from Jerusalem to Rome, and all necessary 
legends and traditions were invented to give to that bish- 
opric whatever honor was necessary to its authority. The 
Bishop of Rome became the bishop above all other bishops. 

Rather swift was the evolution, all things considered, 
yet it took centuries to complete it. When it was finished, 
the New Testament simplicity was gone, and instead was 
a great ecclesiastical machine, with a great gulf fixed be- 
tween laity and clergy, and with the ministry rising in suc- 
cessive tiers, rank above rank. The deacons were no longer 
laymen, chosen for their good repute and business ability 
to care for the secular interests of the church, but a lower 
order of the clergy; and above them rose the priesthood 
in higher and narrowing ranks of priests, bishops, arch- 
bishops, cardinals, and, above them all, the Bishop of Rome, 
wearing the fisherman's ring to remind himself that he 
was the successor of Peter, and proclaiming himself "the 
servant of the servants of God," that under that title he 
might rule them all with hand as rigorous as that of the 
Roman emperor, who himself often trembled at the feet 
of this exalted earthly monarch. 

Thus out of simple democracy rose the mighty mon- 
archy of the papacy; and when the Reformation came, 
neither Luther in Germany, who believed in Congregation- 
alism, nor the king-ridden Church of England restored the 
primitive simplicity of the apostolic order. That was re- 
served for the Anabaptists and the Puritans. 

Luther and the Congregational Principle. In spite of the high 
esteem in which Luther had always held civic authority and the 
state, his original intention was to reconstruct the church on the 
simple basis of government by the congregation. He had visions 
of a congregational life founded upon fellowship and on principles 
of Christian liberty, fraternity, and equality. It was further his 
idea that the national element should find free expression, only the 
nation then meant the Roman empire of German nationality, and 
he had in view an improvement in the general economic condition 
of the country, an increase in its culture, and the upraising of 
downtrodden classes. Not that these were in his eyes separate 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 75 

and independent ideals; rather he was convinced that a return to 
the Gospel would inevitably bring about their realization. There- 
fore there was no immediate need to press them; he could afford 
to wait if necessary; only the Gospel must have free course. — 
Harnack: The Social Gospel, p. 51. 

How the Changes Came. Beneath the bishop or pastor grew 
up the order of the presbyters, who gradually assumed the more 
important functions of the bishop, while the bishop became more 
closely identified with the administration of ecclesiastical affairs. 
But above the bishop there rose the metropolitans, who in their 
turn were subjected in the eastern churches to the patriarch; the 
impersonization of the cause of national unity. But the spirit of 
nationality was not operative in the western church at the time 
when it was the most potent factor in oriental Christendom. In 
the West, therefore, in place of national unity as the controlling 
motive, there was substituted the unity of ecclesiastical empire, 
where the Bishop of Rome developed slowly into the Roman 
papacy. — Allen: Christian Institutions, p. 6. 

By degrees a systematic organization sprang up, by which 
neighboring churches were grouped together for the purpose of 
consultation and self-government. The chief city of each district 
had the civil rank of the "metropolis," or mother city. There the 
local synods naturally met, and the bishop — styled metropolitan, 
from his position — took the lead in the deliberations, as primus inter 
pares, and acted as the representative of his brother bishops in 
their intercourse with other churches. Thus, though all bishops 
were nominally equal, a superior dignity and authority came by 
general consent to be vested in the metropolitans, which, when 
the churches became established, received the stamp of ecclesi- 
astical authority. A little higher dignity was assigned to the 
bishops of the chief seats of government, such as Rome, Antioch, 
Alexandria, and subsequently Constantinople; and among these, 
the Bishop of Rome naturally had the precedence. — Encyclopedia 
Britannica, p. 848. 

Did the Changes Begin Soon? How early modifications 
of the original order began finds an interesting illustration 
in the prominence that soon was given to "the brothers 
of the Lord." The casual reader of the book of Acts is 
likely to miss this phenomenon in New Testament life 
because of a coincidence in the use of names. Peter, James 
and John were the apostolic group most closely associated 
with Jesus ; and in the book of Acts, as also in Paul's letter 
to the Galatians, we find Peter, James and John in the 
acknowledged leadership of the community at Jerusalem, 
but with James in so special a position of prominence that 
tradition assigns to him the title of Bishop of Jerusalem. 
But this was not the same James. James, the son of Zeb- 



76 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

edee, who belonged to the apostolic group, was murdered 
by Herod (Acts 12: 1). The James who speedily became 
prominent in the leadership of the Jerusalem congregation 
was a wholly different James, the Lord's brother (Gal. 
1:19 and 2:9). That this James, a new arrival, took 
high rank is evident not only in the influence of his words 
at the apostolic council (Acts 15:13-22), but also in the 
fact that messages from Jerusalem asserting the perpetual 
authority of the Mosaic law, even upon Gentile converts, 
came not avowedly from the whole apostolic group but 
from James (Gal. 2: 12). Even Peter seems to have been 
over-awed by the surprising place of leadership which had 
been assumed by this relatively new convert, and Paul 
took him sharply to task for it in Antioch (Gal. 2: 11-14). 
It goes without saying that Jesus, who acknowledged no 
kinship in the church beyond his spiritual relationship to 
all believers (Luke 8:19-21), could have promulgated no 
scheme whose purpose was to make a place for his own 
as yet unconverted brother; but James, who evidently be- 
came a convert after the ministry of Jesus had ended (John 
7:5), secured by his personal relationship, what he was 
able to hold by force of personality, a position in the apos- 
tolic group not even second to that of Peter. 

The position of James in Jerusalem shows, first, that 
there were no such hard and fast limits to the apostolic 
group as has sometimes been imagined. That group was 
elastic enough to admit Paul, who certainly did not derive 
his orders from the Twelve, and Barnabas (Acts 14:4; I 
Cor. 9:5, 6), and more obscure men like Andronicus and 
Junias (Romans 16:7). It also shows that there was 
great liberty of local adaptation, and no necessity whatever 
as the first Christians understood it, of providing for a suc- 
cession according to an artificial and predetermined scheme. 

The Relatives of Jesus. According to an old and well-attested 
tradition, with which Acts 12 fits in, the Twelve remained twelve 
years in Jerusalem; then by the second persecution, viz., that of 
Herod in which James the son of Zebedee fell, they were scat- 
tered 'and afterwards returned only temporarily to Jerusalem. 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 77 

But they had already worked as missionaries in Judea from Jeru- 
salem as a center, or had confirmed the missionary work of others 
(as Peter and John in Samaria, Peter in Philistia). Now, in all 
probability, a total change of constitution took place in Jerusalem. 
James, the brother of the Lord, and presbyters took the place of 
the government of the Twelve which prefigured the messianic 
kingdom. (The Acts does not note the transformation but pre- 
supposes it: see 12:17; 11:30; 13:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 21:18). It is 
certain that members of the college of the Twelve (Peter and 
John) who were still present from time to time in Jerusalem, had 
not lost their authority (Gal. 2; Acts 15; Acts 11:30 refers only to 
the presbyters, Acts 15 to the apostles and presbyters, Acts 21 to 
James and the presbyters). The new constitution must be esti- 
mated from three points of view: 

(1) It gives prominence to the relations of Jesus (after James' 
death the cousin of Jesus, Simeon, was chosen in Jerusalem ac- 
cording to Eusebius 2: 11, by the apostles still living, and also by 
disciples and relations of Jesus). Other relations of Jesus also 
came to the front in Palestinian communities. Jesus' relations 
are called desposyni, i. e., those "belonging to the master." The 
old Jewish-Christian list of bishops of Jerusalem with its many 
names is perhaps also a list of the relations of Jesus: Hegesippus, 
Julius Africanus; see Zahn, Forsch, vi, pp. 225 et seq.). — Harnack: 
The Constitution and Law of the Church, pp. 32-33. 

Influence of Brothers of the Lord. The brothers of the Lord 
appear to have been often with the apostles, although they were 
distinguished from them. Their authority was at least equal to 
that of the apostles. These two groups constituted, in the nascent 
Church, a sort of aristocracy, based entirely upon the greater or 
less intimacy which they had had with the Master. It was these 
men whom St. Paul called "pillars" of the Church of Jerusalem. 
We see, moreover, that no distinctions of ecclesiastical hierarchy 
were yet in existence. The title was nothing; the personal author- 
ity was everything. — Ernest Renan: The Apostles, p. 111. 

Did Jesus During the Forty Days Establish a Formal 
Organization? There has been considerable recent attempt 
on the part of High Church partisans in the Episcopal 
Church to derive an authority for their system of govern- 
ment from the silence of the forty days after the resurrec- 
tion. These claims are met now and then in somewhat 
pretentious works, but more frequently appear in sectarian 
tracts, from one of which the following is quoted: 

An Amazing Reconstruction of History. A. D. 33. According 
to the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord, during 
the forty days intervening between his resurrection and ascension, 
instructs the apostles concerning the Kingdom of God, a term 
synonomous with the Church of God, in other words, He instructs 
them concerning his church, its form, order, worship, government, 
organization, doctrine, etc. 



78 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

A. D. 35. The apostles, in obedience to Christ's instruction, 
separate and establish the church with bishops, priests, and dea- 
cons, a liturgical worship, common prayer, etc., in different coun- 
tries. 

A. D. 35 to A. D. 67. The Church of England is founded in 
Britain, the Church of Egypt in Egypt, the Church of Rome in 
Rome, the Church of Africa in Africa, and other national Catholic 
and Apostolic Churches are founded in other parts of the world. 

A. D. 70. Bishop Clement, of Rome, whose name St. Paul says 
is written in the Book of Life, says St. Paul went to the extreme 
limit of the west, which included Britain. 



From these notes you can readily see that the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of this country is the same church in origin as 
when called the Church of England in the colonies in A. D. 1607; 
it is the same in origin as hen it first united with the first Roman 
Mission in England in A. D. 673; it is the same in origin as the 
church which sent bishops to the Council of Aries in A. D. 314 
and was represented at the Council of Nice in A. D. 325; it is the 
same in origin as the church founded by St. Paul in Britain as 
testified by the early bishops and fathers and ecclesiastical his- 
torians of the Catholic and Apostolic Church — St. Clement, St. 
Irenseus, Tertullian, Origen, St. Chrysostom and others. — Church 
Facts, a pamphlet published by Young Churchman Company. 

These are not church facts nor even church fancies. 
They hardly deserve the dignity of the name of church 
fallacies. There is no courteous term which can justly 
characterize such flagrant misuse of Scripture and of his- 
tory. 

There is no intimation whatever in the Scripture that 
Jesus during the forty days after the resurrection taught 
his disciples a system of church government. The King- 
dom of God of which Jesus talked was not identical with 
the organized church, and to suppose that He occupied the 
few brief meetings with the disciples after his resurrection 
in delivering lectures on church polity is preposterous. 
Desperate must be the case of a sectarian author who is 
forced to such shifts. The character of the conversations 
of this period recorded in the Gospels is so remote from 
this as to make the supposition very nearly violent; but if 
He did reveal to them a system of church government, the 
significant fact concerning it is that they went straight 
forward, as we shall later see, and organized self-governing 
churches. 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 79 

An Eminent Episcopalian Scholar's Testimony. The apostolic 
origin of the British Church, whether through St. Paul or one of 
the Twelve, is unproved and improbable. When Eusebius, follow- 
ing Origen, sketches the fields of apostolic missionary work, he 
omits Britain. The attractive story of Joseph of Arimathea found- 
ing Glastonbury is a medieval legend of even later date than that 
of St. James at Compostella in Spain. We have something a 
little more substantial when Tertullian, among the nations in 
which the faith has found a home, mentions Hispaniarum omnes 
termini, et Galliarum deversce nationes, et Britanorum inaccessa 
Romanis loca Christo vero subdita. But an oratorical flourish of 
this kind need not mean more than that Tertullian knew that the 
Gospel had spread widely, and liked to give telling details. Ire- 
nseus, writing a little earlier than Tertullian, mentions Germany, 
Iberia, and the Celts, but says nothing about Britain; and it is 
quite possible that in his time Christianity had not yet reached 
our shores. 

It seems right to add a word of caution against the common 
confusion between the British Church and the English Church. 
They were quite distinct, and had very little to do with one an- 
other. To cite the British bishops at the Councils of Aries and 
Rimini as evidence of the antiquity of the English Church is pre- 
posterous. There was then no England; and the ancestors of 
English Churchmen were heathen tribes on the continent. The 
history of the Church of England begins with the episcopate of 
Archbishop Theodore (A. D. 668), or at the very earliest with the 
landing of Augustine (A. D. 597). By that time the British Church 
had been almost destroyed by the heathen English, and the rem- 
nant of it refused to assist Augustine in the work of conversion. 
The Scottish Church of Ireland and West Scotland rendered some 
help; the British Church stood aloof. Bede tells us that down to 
his day the Britains still treated English Christians as pagans. — 
Alfred Plummer: The Church of the Early Fathers. 

When Do We First Find a Distinction Between Bishop 
and Presbyter? The first distinction we find between 
bishop and presbyter is in the writings of Ignatius, who 
died in 107 A. D. In these letters for the first time the 
local church has not only a single bishop but a company of 
elders. These letters represented a custom which had come 
to prevail and quite recently in the churches of Asia Minor. 
We know that for a long time afterward a different custom 
prevailed in other regions, but the letters of Ignatius are 
the stronghold of those who attempt to trace a distinction 
between bishop and presbyter back to the time of the 
apostles. As Peter and Paul had both suffered martyrdom 
forty years before the death ■ of Ignatius, his testimony 
leaves a wide gap. 



80 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Distinction in Terms Bishop and Presbyter. Presbyter may 
denote simply the old as opposed to the young; it may be a title 
of honor (by which personal excellence as well as the quality 
of representing an older authoritative period [=a witness of tra- 
dition] is marked); it can also denote the elected and formally 
appointed member of a council. The use of the word in its differ- 
ent meanings within the Christian communities may be derived 
from the synagogue — this is the most natural assumption — or from 
the municipal constitutions, or it may have arisen spontaneously. 
In the same way the bishops may be derived from the Septuagint; 
they may have been copied from the municipal administrations, 
but they may also — and this is the most probable view — have arisen 
spontaneously. The word always signifies an overseer, curator, 
superintendent; but as to what the supervision is concerned with, 
it contains no indication. It may be souls, and then the word is 
equivalent to pastors (see I Pet. 2:25, "the shepherd and overseer 
of your souls" . . . ), but it may also be buildings, economic 
affairs, etc., or it may be a combination of the two. — Harnack: Con- 
stitution and Law, p. 58. 

The Plural Episcopate. It is true that this very office [the 
ministry] as embodied in a single person, has no strict claim to 
be an apostolic institution, seeing that all local ministry was in 
the apostolic age, exercised by a plurality of persons, whether 
elders or deacons. — /. Vernon Bartlet in address, Is the Congrega- 
tional Ministry Apostolic? Int. Council Edinburgh, 1908 Report, 
p. 213. 

Origin of Episcopate. The monarchical episcopate is first met 
with in Asia Minor, where the development seems to have arisen 
more rapidly than anywhere else; there are intimations of this in 
the letters of Ignatius, written when he was traveling from Anti- 
och (circa 110) to Rome, where he was to suffer the death of a 
martyr. Ignatius welcomed it with great enthusiasm. A new 
form of enthusiasm, in fact, is about to arise — enthusiasm for an 
office. In earlier days apostles and prophets were expected to 
produce a direct testimony, full of spiritual power, the word of 
God; they were expected to show themselves to be representatives 
of Christ. Ignatius claims that the bishop answers these require- 
ments: Whoever opposes him opposes God; he represents the 
unity of the Church, and is surety for it; where the bishop is, 
there are the flock, just as where Christ is there is the Universal 
Church. In this connection we hear for the first time of the 
"Catholic Church" (ad Smyrn 8). Evidently it was particularly 
the danger of division into many parties within the Church, of 
schism, that called forth this enthusiastic praise of what was 
manifestly a new born constitution. — Hans von Schubert: Outlines 
of Church History, pp. 56-57. 

Ignatius, it is true, urges obedience to bishops, but what he 
has in mind seems to be a loyalty to the local mniister in the face 
of divisive individualism. Irenaeus, indeed, attaches much impor- 
tance to bishops, but chiefly as persons to whom inquirers or 
doubters may be referred for information as to the faith. We 
proceed down the line of saints and confessors till we come in 
the middle of the third century to Cyprian. He was the father of 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 81 

ecclesiastics as Origcn was the father of theologians. — Dean George 
Hodges: The Early Church, p. 95. 

Were the Bishops Successors of the Apostles? The 

theory that bishops were successors of the apostles is first 
set forth by Ignatius, to whom we are indebted for the 
idea of a monarchical bishop, but Ignatius knows no such 
official as a diocesan bishop. His bishop is a local pastor, 
the foremost representative of a single local church. 
While the epistles of Ignatius are the stronghold of those 
who appeal to early usage in support of the monarchical 
episcopate, the officer whom he describes has nothing in 
common with the modern notion of an episcopal bishop but 
is to all intents and purposes a Congregational pastor, with 
an advisory board of elders. 

Bishop the Head of Local Church. The letters of Ignatius are 
surprising, because suddenly and with extraordinary vehemence 
they show us the local church unified in a single minister, called 
now a bishop, and distinguished from the elders. As Ignatius was 
martyred in A. D. 107, the letters, if genuine, show us the church 
in Antioch, and the churches in Asia Minor, as they were after the 
death of the Apostle John. Possibly the fact in the New Testa- 
ment which best prepares us for this advance in church govern- 
ment is the series of letters to the seven churches in the Apo- 
calypse. The "angel of the church" is evidently the representative 
of the church. And what the angel of the church is there, the 
bishop is in Ignatius. The interest of this connection is deepened 
by the fact that Ignatius writes to two of the seven churches, 
Smyrna and Philadelphia. At Ephesus the bishop is Onesimus; 
at Magnesia, Damas; at Tralles, Polybius; at Smyrna, Polycarp. 
The bishop, or angel, of Philadelphia is not named. Curiously 
enough the letter to Rome does not refer to the bishop of that 
church, and indeed no mention of any kind is made of the min- 
istry there. — Horton: The Early Church, p. 88. 

Differentialism of Duties. In the very earliest period presby- 
ters and bishops here and there coincided, so that every duly 
appointed presbyter was also called a bishop. But quick and 
decisive was the victory of the form of expression according to 
which only the officials who played an active and leading part in 
the assembly of the community and in the care of the poor were 
called bishops (without losing the name presbyter or their place 
in the college of presbyters). Bishop is a higher name and prob- 
ably has nothing to do originally with the secular episcopos of a city, 
but only with the episcopos Christ (I Pet. 2: 25; Ign. Eph. 6: 1; Magn. 
6: 1, 13:2; Trail, 3: 1; Rom. 9: 1). At a later period analogies may 
have been set up, and here and there these may have been of 
importance, but this .cannot be proved. This victory is obviously 
a proof of the increasing importance of the care of the poor and 



82 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

of the service in the assembly of the community, which more and 
more resolved itself into the conducting of public worship, now 
beginning to establish itself in a fixed form. But the function of 
the bishops and deacons (especially, however, of the former) must 
have completely differentiated itself from that of the presbyters 
in general, when, owing to the lack of prophets and teachers, 
they were charged with the function of building up by means of 
the Word and other duties which these inspired men had hitherto 
performed. — Harnack: Constitution and Law of Early Church, p. 92. 

Did the Apostles Invent Apostolic Succession? No, 

they did nothing of the kind. Sabatier has shrewdly said 
that the doctrine of apostolic succession did not make the 
bishops, but the bishops made the doctrine. The begin- 
nings of this theory may be traced straight to Irenaeus, 
who in support of his quite new idea of a single bishop in 
the local church, conceived of this idea as inherent in the 
organization of the church by the apostles. The churches 
in Asia Minor knew little, and had seen little, of the con- 
ference of an apostolic group. Such a group continued for 
some time in Jerusalem, not composed, as we know, wholly 
of those who had been disciples of Jesus, but of some of 
those men and of others prominent in Palestinian Chris- 
tianity, notably James, the brother of Jesus. There was 
only one attempt to keep the apostolic number complete. 
The term apostle came to be very loosely applied, and in 
the second century meant, not one of the original twelve, 
but a traveling evangelist, who was to be given free enter- 
tainment for a limited time only, and received courteously, 
but with reservations. That the twelve apostles ordained 
successors in the apostolic office, these being bishops as 
distinct from presbyters, is a pure fiction, the dream of 
ecclesiastics who have no other foundation for their alleged 
apostolic authority. 

The apostolic succession of the New Testament is a 
spiritual succession from the apostles : it is not a succes- 
sion of apostles under the title of bishops. 

The claim of the Church of Rome that its bishops can 
prove direct descent of ordination from Peter is not sus- 
tained by the evidence ; and the attempt of the high church 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 83 

element in the Episcopal Church to derive a succession for 
their orders, either from Rome, or by way of the alleged 
ancient Church of Britain, is still less satisfactory. It is 
repudiated by Rome, and by candid scholars in the Episco- 
pal Church. 

The oldest of the lists of Roman bishops which has 
come down to us in connection with the claim of apostolic 
succession is that of Eusebius, in the fourth century, quot- 
ing Hegesippus, about 160 A. D., who traveled to Corinth 
and Rome, and made up such a list of bishops as he was 
able at that time to do. Unfortunately for the theory of 
the succession, there are two other lists almost as old and 
entitled to as much respect, both of which differ from that of 
Hegesippus, even as to the first four names. Irenaeus, who 
died in the same year as Hegesippus, 189, gives a list of 
Roman bishops beginning with Peter and Paul, Linus, Ana- 
cletus, Clement; but Tertullian makes Clement the imme- 
diate successor of Peter, and this would appear far more 
likely, inasmuch as he was a companion of the Apostles, 
and his first epistle was once counted for holy Scripture, 
and Paul says of him that his name is in the Book of Life 
(Phil. 4:3). But Rufinus starts the list with Linus and 
Cletus, both of whom, according to his calendar, died before 
Peter. Dr. Richard F. Littledale, in his work on the 
"Petrine Claims," enumerates eleven divergent views and 
conflicting lists covering the first period of the Roman 
Church. It is absurd to suppose that so high and top- 
heavy an edifice as the theory of apostolic succession can 
be built on such a foundation of sand. 

Theory of Apostolical Succession. An attribute of quite special 
importance is proclaimed quite clearly in the West as early as the 
end of the second century, i. e., the attribute of the apostolical 
succession of the bishops. In that epoch of civilization ideas of 
succession were by no means unusual; they generally took the 
form of mystical conceptions and legal fictions. These, however, 
are based on a very true analysis of experience, since there is 
hardly anything which gives a greater feeling of confidence and 
stability (if one does not go beyond a superficial view) than the 
chain of regular successions in an office or calling^ or in connec- 
tion with the transmission of a doctrine regarded as a deposit. 



84 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Precedents and limitations necessarily grow up in connection with 
any office, as well as ideas of what is inevitably involved in it, 
and these influence not only the outside public but also the holders 
of the office or the custodians of the deposit, and confer upon 
these men, as a kind of permanent stamp, a characteristic temper- 
ament and reputation, as though the originator of the whole chain 
were in some sort incarnate in them all. 

It followed as a necessary consequence of the conception of the 
apostolicity of the bishops that the ancient, and partly correct, 
tradition that the apostles had appointed the officials of the Church 
now became specialized, and it was asserted that the apostles (or 
in such cases always a single apostle) had appointed the bishops 
in the individual communities. . . . The apostolical character 
of the episcopate, which was the crown and culmination of its 
dignity, raised it high above the presbyters, and so immediately 
restored to it the pre-eminence and reputation which it seemed 
likely to lose through being placed on the same level as the pres- 
byters in their capacity of priests. . . . As individuals the 
presbyters were probably not very important where the community 
was small and there was only one assembly for worship in a place, 
but no doubt they gained in importance where there were several 
such assemblies, for then they were commissioned by the bishop 
to conduct the services of the branch congregations, and he needed 
their advice and help in the numerous and important matters 
which came before him. — Harnack: Constitution and Law of the 
Church, pp. 122-129. 

Who Were the Apostles in the Second Century? The 

literature of the second century indicates plainly what con- 
ception the churches of that period had of the apostolic 
office in their day. The successors of the apostles were 
not high and mighty ecclesiastics, but itinerant evangelists. 
That exceedingly valuable document, known as ''The 
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," which is really the old- 
est church manual in existence, gives specific direction. 
The apostle is to receive free entertainment for not more 
than two days, and is not to carry away with him as a 
contribution any money, nor more than enough bread to 
last him till he comes to his next lodging. Any idea that 
he was to sit in his metropolitan cathedral, receiving tribute 
from lesser clergy, is absurd in the light of this reliable 
information. 

From the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Now with regard 
to the apostles and prophets, according to the decree of the gospel, 
so do ye. 

Let every apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord. 

But he shall not remain longer than one day; and if need be 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 85 

another day also; but if he remain three days he is a false prophet. 
And when the apostle departeth, let him take nothing except 
bread till he reach his lodging. But if he ask for money he is a 
false prophet. — Didache: xi, 3-6. 

Note by Philip Schaff. The apostle here referred to is a wan- 
dering evangelist or itinerant preacher who carries the gospel to 
the unconverted, and is therefore not allowed to remain in one 
place. Hermas uses the term likewise in this wider sense and 
speaks of forty apostles and teachers. Eusebius says, "It is im- 
possible for us to give the number of the individuals that became 
pastors or evangelists during the first immediate succession from 
the apostles in the churches throughout the world." — Commentary 
on Didache, pp. 69, 199. 

Was the Monarchical Episcopate Episcopal? When the 
idea of the bishop as elevated above the presbyter obtained 
entrance into certain churches, particularly in Asia Minor, 
it was in no such form as is now represented in the idea of 
the bishop of a diocese supervising and controlling the 
presbyters of a large group of churches. The bishop was 
the presiding presbyter in a local church, and the pres- 
byters were ministers of the same church. Each church 
was supposed to possess its plural ministry of presbyters, 
of whom one, the bishop, represented the church in its 
wider relationships. The theory of Irenseus was not that 
the churches of a district were united in support of a single 
bishop, but that each local church was united in its bishop 
to other churches similarly represented, each by its own 
bishop. Irenaeus, wide as was his departure from the 
primitive polity, was still not far from a modern Congrega- 
tionalism recognizing that however many presbyters a 
church may possess, inevitably one minister will come to 
recognition as in a special sense its pastor. 

The Monarchical Episcopate. As regards the question of the 
origin of the monarchical office, it is extremely significant that it 
developed in connection with the problem of organization. Organ- 
ization came within the sphere of the officials in charge of public 
worship, who also had in their hands the administration of the 
funds and the care of the poor. These officials in charge of the 
worship are already mentioned by Paul (Philippians); Clement 
not only carries back their appointment to the apostles, but also 
knows of an apostolical injunction dealing with the lasting neces- 
sity of such an office of overseer (bishop), while Hermas connects 
them with the apostles and teachers, and the Didache with the 



86 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

prophets and teachers (similar assertions are not made about the 
office of the presbyters). Since we are deprived of almost every 
direct source of information concerning the origin of the mon- 
archy of the bishop, we are thrown back upon hypotheses. In 
connection with these we must be mindful of the saying of Salmon: 
If the original constitution of the Church was not the same as in 
the time of Irenaeus, it must at least have been capable of an 
inner development to the later form, and indeed in the form of 
quite gradual changes, called forth by causes universal in their 
nature. — Harnack: Constitution and Law, p. 96. 

View of Ignatius. Ignatius is quite sure that the apostles 
themselves instituted this episcopal office. In view of the silence 
of the New Testament this confidence is very striking. We are 
inclined to infer that the "monarchical" episcopate of James at 
Jerusalem, and the "angels of the churches" in Asia Minor, repre- 
sent the practice of the twelve apostles, with which Ignatius was 
familiar, and that the Pauline method of elders and deacons with- 
out a president was peculiar to his churches, and perhaps only 
transitional, attaching to the period when he was in active control 
of all his churches. At any rate, the eager and confident attitude 
of Ignatius, on the subject of a single minister presiding over the 
local church, shows that the practice which has prevailed all 
through Christendom is carried back, if not to the time of the 
apostles, at any rate to that which immediately succeeded. There 
is an august simile; the local church is compared to the heavenly 
court: "The bishop presiding after the likeness of God, and the 
presbvters after the likeness of the council of the apostles, with 
the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted 
with the diaconate of Jesus Christ" (Magn. 6). 

The Ignatian bishop exactly corresponds to the pastor of a 
Congregational church in England or in America. And that is the 
direction in which we mav most hopefully seek to illustrate the 
state of the church in the time of Ignatius. In each place there is 
one church. He would not, like modern Congregationalists, allow 
several churches in a single city. He, like St. Paul, and the New 
Testament generally, speaks of "the church which is in Ephesus" 
or "in Magnesia," but he would never have said "the churches of 
Ephesus." Each city had its one organized community, with the 
bishop at the head of it, and its due complement of elders and 
deacons. Ignatius is the earliest writer to use the phrase which 
acquired so amazing a power, "the Catholic Church"; but he means 
by it not what it afterwards came to mean, but the sum total of 
the local communities held together by mutual intercourse and 
acts of sympathy. The bishop does not preside over several 
churches, but only over one; we do not even hear yet of synods 
of bishops from neighboring towns. The church is itself the 
sovereign authority, which appoints its own representatives. # The 
authority, however, of bishop and presbyters, when once appointed, 
was indefeasible. Obedience to them must be rendered "as to the 
apostles of Jesus Christ our hope" (Trail. 2), so that in the view 
of Ignatius the presbytery was virtually the successor of the 
apostles, the presbytery, that is, of the local church. — Horton: Early 
Church, pp. 89-90. 

Bishop as an Elder Brother. We may best sum up his position 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 87 

by saying that he is to be the elder brother in the brotherhood of 
the church. — Durrell: The Historic Church, p. 55. 

The Ignatian doctrine did not go unchallenged. Many 
of the early churches throughout whole districts and na- 
tions conducted their own ordinations. For a consider- 
able period Alexandria was the most important center in 
Christendom; its representatives at the Council of Nicaea 
were, as Dean Stanly has said, the most learned body in 
the entire Council. The bishop of Alexandria, tracing his 
succession from Mark, was for a time the only potentate 
who bore the name of Pope; and after the Council of Nicaea 
he was "the judge of the world." But the church of Alex- 
andria had no episcopal ordination. The bishop, with all 
his extraordinary power, was a presiding presbyter. 

The Testimony of Jerome. For at Alexanderia, also, from 
Mark the Evangelist to the Bishops Heracles and Dionysius, the 
presbyters always called one elected by themselves, and placed in 
a higher rank their bishop. — Epistle to Evangelius. 

Jerome's Further Testimony. A bishop is the same as a pres- 
byter; and before, by the instigation of the devil, there were divi- 
sions in religion, the Church was governed by the council of the 
presbyters. 

How Did the Modern Denominations Arise? The 

various denominations which now comprise the visible 
church have risen partly through historic development and 
geographical distribution and partly through the various 
attempts that have been made to reform the Church or some 
of its branches, or to emphasize some distinctive principle 
or doctrine. 

Some of the denominations that now exist, as for in- 
stance the Roman Catholic, believe themselves to be able 
to establish unbroken historical lines of descent from apos- 
tolic days. It does not follow, however, that these churches 
are more apostolic in type or character than those that trace 
their modern beginnings to definite modern movements. 
The older Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopal, 
the Presbyterian, the Reformed, the Congregational, and 
the Lutheran, grew out of the movements that followed the 



88 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Reformation, but may be none the less apostolic by reason 
of that fact. When Roman Catholic theologians taunted 
the early bishops of the Church of England with the state- 
ment that they could not prove their succession from the 
apostles, these bishops were wont to reply that apostolic 
grace and authority had never been confined to mere tactual 
succession, and reminded their opponents that in Jesus' day 
the scribes and pharisees sat in Moses' seat. 

Episcopal Succession Not a Proof of Divine Authority. I deny, 
my Lord, that succession of bishops is an infallible point to know 
the Church by. . . . Although you can prove the succession 
of bishops from Peter, yet this is not sufficient to prove Rome the 
Catholic Church, unless you can prove the profession of Peter's 
faith, whereupon the Catholic Church is builded, to have continued 
in his successors at Rome, and at this present time. — Archbishop 
Philpot (martyr of 1555): Examinations, pp. 37, 137. 

Such as teach the people to know the church by these signs, 
namely, by the traditions of men and the succession of bishops, 
teach wrong. — Bishop Hooper: Declaration of Christ and His Office, 
1547 A. D. 

The Church is bound to no sort of people, or any ordinary 
succession of bishops, cardinals or such like, but unto the very 
Word of God. — Bishop Hooper: Confession of Faith, A. D. 1550. 

Is the Papal Form of Government Scriptural? The 
Roman Catholic Church claims that there is one holy and 
infallible church with an unchanged form of government, 
deriving its authority from Christ through Peter and his 
successors. No such claim can be sustained by Holy Scrip- 
ture. 

The Roman Claim. Her creed is now identical with what it 
was in past ages. The same Gospel of peace that Jesus Christ 
preached on the Mount; the same doctrine that St. Peter preached 
at Antioch and Rome; St. Paul at Ephesus; St. John Chrysostom 
at Constantinople; St. Augustine in Hippo; St. Ambrose in Milan; 
St. Remigius in France; St. Boniface in Germany; St. Athanasius 
in Alexandria; the same doctrine that St. Patrick introduced into 
Ireland; that St. Augustine brought into England, and St. Pelagius 
into Scotland, is ever preached in the Catholic Church throughout 
the globe, from January till December — "Jesus Christ yesterday, 
and to-day, and the same forever/' 

The same admirable unity that exists in matters of faith is 
also established in the government of the Church. All the mem- 
bers of the vast body of Catholic Christians are as intimately 
united to one visible chief as the members of the human body are 
joined to the head. The faithful of each parish are subject to 
their immediate pastor. Each pastor is subordinate to his bishop, 



ECCLESIAS TICAL EVOLUTION 89 

and each bishop of Christendom acknowledges the jurisdiction of 
the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, and head of the 
Catholic Church. 

Jesus, our Lord, founded but one Church, which He was pleased 
to build on Peter. Therefore, any church that does not recognize 
Peter as its foundation stone is not the Church of Christ, and 
therefore cannot stand, for it is not the work of God. — Cardinal 
Gibbons: The Faith of Our Fathers, pp. 28-29. 

The Protestant answers that this whole chain of reason- 
ing is artificial, opposed to the free spirit of the Kingdom 
of God as Jesus established it, opposed to a reasonable 
interpretation of Holy Scripture, and quite subversive of 
the best life of the Church both in polity and in doctrine. 
The New Testament is utterly lacking in any indication 
that Peter supposed himself to possess larger authority 
than did the other apostles. In their councils he was one 
among the others, more ready of speech and therefore 
sometimes speaking more wisely and at other times less 
wisely than his associates; a man of more resourcefulness 
and initiative than most of his companions, but in no way 
elevated above them in the dignity of his office. Whether 
primacy existed in Jerusalem appears not to have been 
manifested in Peter but in James, the brother of the Lord, 
who was not even one of the original twelve. Far from 
being exalted above his brethren, Peter was sometimes 
manifestly in the wrong and was reproved by them (Gal. 
2: 11-14). In his letters to other Christian ministers he 
claimed no sacerdotal authority, but wrote as an elder to 
other elders, saying: "The elders which are among you I 
exhort, who am also an elder" (I Peter 5:1). So far from 
his assuming a 'primacy as Bishop of Rome and transmitting 
that authority to his successors in that see — 

(a) We have no evidence that Peter assumed such 
authority. 

(b) We have no reason to believe that if he had assumed 
it, his authority would have been conceded by the others. 

(c) We do not know that Peter ever was in Rome. 

(d) If Peter was in Rome, we lack any evidence either 



90 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

that he was recognized as bishop there or that he ordained 
any other bishop as his successor. 

(e) If Peter was bishop of Rome and ordained a suc- 
cessor, we do not know who that successor was. The oldest 
lists which we have of the bishops of Rome all differ in 
the order of the first bishops after Peter. 

Catholicism Not Catholic. But Catholicism is not even Cath- 
olic. There are several "Catholicisms"; the eastern and western 
denounce each other: each is equally sure that it is the one Holy, 
Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Thus neither is Catholic in the 
proper sense of the word, "universal" and "all inclusive." Cathol- 
icism completely repudiates that Catholic idea which was quite 
natural to Paul when he wrote "unto the church of God which 
is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called 
saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
in every place, their Lord and ours" (I Cor. 1:2). The millions 
who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in Protestant 
countries, and accept the New Testament as the teaching of Christ 
and the apostles, Catholicism excludes and anathematises. — R. F. 
Horton: The Early Church, p. 158. 

Was Peter the Rock of the Church? There has been 
much discussion as to whether the rock to which Jesus 
referred was Peter himself or Peter's confession. Roman 
Catholics steadfastly declare that Peter was the rock. 
Protestants generally have affirmed that the rock was 
Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. Peter certainly 
was not the rock in the sense of being an official with papal 
authority, entitled by virtue of his office to lord it over his 
brethren. Such authority he never assumed and the apos- 
tles never acknowledged. Paul explicitly denied that Peter 
had any more authority than himself and placed upon rec- 
ord the fact that he withstood Peter to the face on one 
occasion, and on another occasion Paul declared that Peter 
and his companions learned more from Paul than Paul did 
from Peter. Yet, there is a sense in which Peter may be 
considered to have been the rock. He was the first of the 
apostles to confess his faith in Jesus as the Christ, and 
thus was the representative of all who were to confess that 
faith which constitutes the Church. The rock is thus not 
an impersonal doctrine, but is composed of living souls 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 91 

united in a common faith. Against this rock the gates of 
Hades hath not prevailed (Matt. 16: 18). 

Did Jesus Give to Peter the Power of Binding and 
Loosing? Jesus said to Peter, "Whatsoever thou shalt 
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matt. 16: 19). 
But these same words which at that moment applied in a 
special sense to Peter as the only one at that particular 
time confessing Christ, He shortly afterward repeated with 
particular reference to the whole ecclesia. Not only is the 
plural number here significant, but the connection is im- 
portant. "If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto 
thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto 
you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven" (Matt. 18: 17, 18). No power was conferred upon 
Peter in the earlier instance which was not later explicitly 
delegated to the whole congregation. 

Is the Episcopal System Scriptural? The theory of the 
Episcopal Church is not that authority is vested in a single 
bishop, whether the Bishop of Rome or any other, but that 
it resides in the order of bishops elevated above presbyters 
or pastors, to whom has descended the right of government 
through divine grace bestowed upon the original twelve 
apostles and communicated by them to their successors, 
the bishops, by whom that grace unchanged and undimin- 
ished has been preserved in unbroken succession by the 
laying on of hands of bishops from the twelve apostles 
down. 

To this claim the Congregational and many other 
churches reply: There is no evidence in the New Testa- 
ment that the twelve apostles constituted an episcopate, or 
that after the first few years in Jerusalem when it was felt 
to be necessary to preserve the apostolic group composed 
of men who had known Jesus in the flesh, any effort was 
made to keep up the organization of the original twelve by 
succession or otherwise. The apostles soon became more 
than twelve in number, and if this was done by ordination 
of the original twelve we do not know it. There is no indi- 



92 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

cation whatever that Paul or Barnabas were ordained apos- 
tles by the original apostles. Paul's own account of his 
apostleship is quite distinctly opposed to any such idea. 
Nor were the bishops in the early Church in any narrow 
sense successors of the apostles. They succeeded to that 
office only as pastors or elders. This is what the apostles 
called themselves. Their oversight appears to have been 
one of guidance, as of those who had been closely asso- 
ciated with Jesus and whose experience and recognized high 
character made it suitable for them to give directions. 
These directions, as is evident from the fifteenth chapter 
of Acts, were advisory and quite destitute of any assump- 
tion of sacerdotal authority. 

The Episcopal Church in America is suffering, first from 
a belated recrudescence of the Oxford movement, and sec- 
ondly from a foreign invasion. The coming to America in 
recent years of a considerable number of English rectors, 
laboring under the delusions inherited from their experience 
in a state church, has resulted in the demand for a new 
name for the Episcopal Church, so chosen as to be in the 
highest degree offensive to other churches, and thoroughly 
false and unchristian in its implications. 

The Primitive Church. The New Testament provides no clear 
teaching on the subject of the constitution of the Christian min- 
istry. The nearer we approach to the source of the Christian 
ministry, the more impossible it is to perceive its precise constitu- 
tion; the further we travel from that source the more definite 
becomes its theory, the more extensive its claims, the more rigid 
its form. Our historical scholars have recovered for us the knowl- 
edge of ecclesiastical conditions in the first two centuries, and we 
perceive that the church then, when apostolic tradition was recent 
and powerful, was variously organized. In Asia Minor there were 
bishops; in Rome and Alexandria there were none. Along with 
both bishops and presbyters were still to be found through most 
part of that period the representatives of the oldest ministry of 
all, that of prophets and apostles, called to their work by direct 
and manifest action of the Holy Spirit. This better knowledge of 
the primitive Church is a very recent thing, and has not yet ex- 
tended itself over the greater part of our communion. — Canon Hen- 
son: Westminster Sermons, 1908. 

A Sectarian Catechism. What, then, is our title? We are 
Catholics. 

Are we Protestants? No. 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 93 

Are you an Episcopalian? No; I am not an Episcopalian; I 
am a Catholic. 

But is not the title of our church in this country the Protestant 
Episcopal Church? Yes, but this is only its legal title. 

What might we well call our branch of the Catholic Church? 
The American Church, or the Church in America. 

As a matter of fact, how is it usually called by those who 
belong to it? It is called the American Church. 

Has God any plan of salvation? God has a plan of salvation. 

Where is it? It is in His Church. 

Is it of importance that we belong to the Church rather than 
to some sect? Yes. 

Where does the road to heaven lie? The way to heaven lies 
through the Church. 

Is membership in the Church the same as being saved? No; 
the Church is the state of salvation. 

Is there any salvation out of the Church? There is no salva- 
tion that we know of out of the Church. 

Is there any good reason for believing that there may be an 
invisible Church, composed of those only who are good? There 
is not the slightest reason for believing any such thing. 

How do the sects differ from the Catholic Church? While it 
was founded by God, they were all founded by men. — W. H. Vibert: 
A Plain Catechism of Church Teaching. 

Then follow questions and answers dating the rise of 
the Lutherans from Martin Luther in 1520; the Presby- 
terians from John Calvin, about 1541 ; the Baptists from 
Menno, about 1551 ; the Congregationalists from Robert 
Browne, in 1585; the Quakers from George Fox, in 1646; 
and the Methodists from John Wesley, in 1752. In con- 
tradistinction to these, the Episcopal Church, which is 
called the Catholic Church — the name Episcopal and that 
of Protestant being carefully disclaimed — was founded by 
"Jesus Christ, our Lord God, nearly 2,000 years ago." All 
other founders it declares to be dead; and it asks: 

Would you rather belong to a society whose founder always 
lives to help you, or to one whose founder is dead and buried? I 
would much rather belong to a society whose Almighty Head 
always lives. 

There is more of this in the catechism referred to, and 

it is only one of several in which the same sort of thing 

is found. Sectarian bigotry could not go much farther. 

No right minded Episcopalian could count it unreasonable 



94 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAG E 

that a Congregationalist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker 
or Baptist should protest against such misrepresentation. 
It is not to be wondered at that Episcopalians who believe 
such doctrine should seek to induce young people in other 
sects in which is no promise of salvation, and which are 
all modern organizations whose founders are dead, to leave 
those wicked organizations, which are specifically declared 
to be guilty of sin, and to come for salvation into that 
"state of salvation" which is "the Church." The Episcopal 
Church has no exclusive right to the title "the Church," 
and the true Church is very much larger than these sec- 
tarian definitions. 

The following may further illustrate the letter and spirit 
of this offensive and misleading literature: 

History Made to Order. The following denominations arose 
in the sixteenth century: Lutheranism in Germany; Presbyterian- 
ism in Switzerland; and Independency, now called in the United 
States Congregationalism, in England. The Baptists appeared in 
England about 1611; and Methodism became a sect in the eight- 
eenth century. Smaller denominations arose in various ways and 
times. To be a part of the Catholic Church it is necessary to 
have Catholic orders. These orders are threefold: Bishop, priest, 
and deacon, and must be had by ordination, or consecration, 
through bishops who themselves have their orders without any 
break from the first apostles. This is what is called apostolic 
succession. The Anglican Church, of which we are a branch, can 
prove historically that it has this succession unbroken. — Elemen- 
tary Notes on the Church, Tract Published by Young Churchman 
Company, pp. 13, 15. 

While the foremost scholars within the Episcopal 
Church have been remarkably frank in acknowledging the 
independence of the local churches in New Testament 
times, and the identity of bishops and presbyters, the de- 
mands for a controversial literature which can make un- 
founded claims for that denomination has resulted in the 
publication, by denominational houses that ought to have 
refused it, of a literature possible to be produced by honest 
men only if they were ignorant of the subject and not 
otherwise. Considering what the ablest Episcopalian schol- 
ars have freely admitted, and still admit, such ignorance is 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 95 

indeed colossal, but is the only real qualification which 
some of these authors have for their task. 

Where Ignorance Is an Essential Qualification. What ancient 
ecclesiastical precedent is there in favor of the Independent or 
Congregational scheme? I am not aware that a single precedent 
is or ever has been so alleged. — Thomas Farrar: The Christian Min- 
istry, Third London Edition, p. 7. 

Is There Truth in the Doctrine of Apostolic Succession ? 
There is. There always has been somewhere living witness 
to the truth in Christ. If no one line can be traced with 
absolute accuracy, as it cannot, still it is an inspiring 
thought that in no age since Jesus was among men has the 
light of His gospel wholly died out. There has always 
been a Church since He established it, and that Church 
still lives, and we belong to it. But this succession is no 
monopoly of any one branch of the Church. Whatever 
truth there is in the doctrine belongs to Congregationalists 
as truly as to any other body of Christians. If the doctrine 
were to be used as an occasion of spiritual pride and arro- 
gance, then it is quite as well that it is uncertain. Such a 
doctrine, if it is to be held at all, should never be used by 
one church or sect as ground to think of itself more highly 
than it ought to think. So far as the doctrine is true, its 
truth is the common heritage of Christians. 

Is the Presbyterian Form of Government Scriptural? 
It is evident from the epistles of the New Testament that 
the elders were entrusted with the general oversight and 
direction in their local churches, and that the councils of 
elders advised in matters pertaining to the common good. 
It is not apparent, however, that this rule of the elders was 
subversive of the ultimate authority of the church member- 
ship. The great bodies of Christians in the United States, 
who are governed by their elders, have grown increasingly 
democratic with the progress of the years. It has become 
practically true in many cases that a Methodist or Presby- 
terian church calls its own pastor and manages its own 
affairs with little interference by conference or presbytery. 
Both these great bodies are essentially Presbyterian, the 



96 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

authority arising in the Methodist church through local, 
state and general conference composed of clerical and lay- 
delegates, and the Presbyterian government ascending 
through presbytery and synod to the General Assembly 
and being composed of teaching and rulmg elders. For 
such an organization, with complicated machinery and 
courts of appeal, there is no certain warrant in the Scripture. 

It need hardly be noted in passing that the Methodist 
Church, while Episcopal in name and while having a group 
of bishops, does not consider itself Episcopal in its govern- 
ment. Its bishops constitute not an order but an office. 
The real government is by the elders, and that church is 
to be classed as Presbyterian in its form. 

The forms of supervision and fellowship in this and 
other Presbyterian churches have been fruitful of great 
good in many cases, but they also have laid burdens of 
unscriptural authority upon ministers and churches. The 
Methodist church is admirable in its spirit of enterprise; 
it is most praiseworthy in its genius for organization, 
enabling it almost to realize its ideal of providing a church 
for every pastor and a pastor for every church; still it 
exercises in some cases a practically tyrannical authority 
over its ministry. The Presbyterian church has a noble 
history; and it has a fine type of Christian character in its 
ministry and membership ; still it has a system of creed 
tests and a fatally convenient machinery for heresy trials 
which have not served to keep it purer than other denom- 
inations, and often have led to burdensome and unhappy 
results. 

In the main the Presbyterian Church has stood with the 
Congregational churches for the distinctive principles of 
Puritanism and progress. But instances have not been 
lacking in this country, as in the discussions between the 
old and new schools, in which it has been apparent that a 
government by presbyters could be as dangerous to liberty 
as a government by bishops. Even so in the beginning of 
the English Reformation it was discovered that "new pres- 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 97 

byter is but old priest writ large." It would be ungracious 
to speak much of the intolerance of early days when all men 
were intolerant to a greater or less degree, but that branch 
of Puritanism which developed into Presbyterianism was 
on the whole less favorable to progress than that which 
developed into Congregationalism. Robert Browne was 
able to write with good nature and a quiet humor of his 
experiences and to recall that the spirit of ecclesiastical 
tyranny was able to express itself as effective through pres- 
byters as through popes with this disadvantage that the 
presbyters are more numerous. 

Robert Browne on Official Tyranny. This therefore is my 
Iudgement, good Vncle, that though the names of pastors, doctors 
& presbyters be lawful, being found in the scriptures, yet that a 
pope or proud popelinge may ly hyd vnder the names. Yea, and 
further I Iudge, that if the Parliament should establish such 
names, & those the officers according to those names, which seek 
their owne discipline, that then in stead of one Pope we should 
haue a thousand, & of some Lord Byshops in name a thousand 
Lordly Tyrants in deed, which do now disdain the name. This 
haue I found by experience to be trewe, both in forreine contries 
and mine owne Contrie. I can testify by trial of Scotland, where 
the preachers hauing no names of bishops did imprison me more 
wrongfully than anie Bishop would haue done, so theis hauing 
nether the name nor the power yet haue vsurped more than the 
Byshops which haue power. For before my first vyoag beyond 
sea, & sence my last retourne, I haue been in more than twentie 
prisons. And for once imprisoned by the byshops I haue been 
more than thrise imprisoned by the preachers or their procuringe. 
A New Years Guift, pp. 25-27. 

What Do Congregationalists Teach Concerning the 
Apostolic Church? In the light of the foregoing facts, and 
of many more that might be added, Congregationalists hold 
that the churches of the New Testament were independent, 
self-governing local congregations, united in their love of 
Christ, and expressing their fellowship through occasional 
representative gatherings which gave valued advice but 
were destitute of ecclesiastical control. The autonomy of 
the local church and the fellowship of all the churches are 
two fundamental principles of Congregationalism, and 
appear to have been fundamental also in the early Church. 
How Far a Pattern? The early fathers of modern Congrega- 



98 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

tionalism held that "the facts of Church government are all of 
them exactly described in the Word of God . . . and therefore 
to continue one and the same unto the appearing of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. ... So that itis not left in the power of men, 
officers, churches, or any state in the world to add, to diminish, 
or alter anything in the least measure therein." — Cambridge Plat- 
form, 1648. 

Of current Congregationalism, Dr. Boynton declared: We are 
disposed to claim in these days only that the principles for the 
organization of Christian churches are given us in the few com- 
mands of the Master and the apostles, and in the wider illustra- 
tions to be seen in their example. — Congregational Way, p. 16. 

Prof. Williston Walker says: Congregationalism has given a 
normal value even to the most incidental variations as to Church 
usages of the New Testament, more fully than any other system 
of ecclesiastical polity. — Hist. Cong. Churches. 

Commenting on the foregoing, Dr. Boynton says: But we do 
not claim that Jesus or his first disciples set out to organize a 
form of government, or that, if they had done so, it would have 
been the unvarying duty of their successors exactly to follow the 
pattern at all times and under all circumstances. We have no 
objection to a number of churches organizing under a bishop of 
their own appointment, to whom a large amount of responsibility 
for their general conduct shall be given. Indeed, we can see under 
many conditions how this may be proper and wise. Nor do we 
know of any reason why it is not allowable for individual churches 
to put authority, which they might not think it best to exercise 
alone, into the hands of the whole or of a group. We only claim 
that, as we study the New Testament churches, we find more 
which bears resemblance to fellowship based upon independence 
than to anything which might be called church government. — Con- 
gregational Way, p. 17. 

Gradual Development as Need Arose. In this way churches 
sprang up. No careful outline of their organization was revealed 
by Christ or conceived by his apostles. They came into being as 
Christians found themselves drawn to one another by common 
love and service to one Lord, and as they were led by the Holy 
Spirit to feel that in such fellowship they could best express their 
inward union and best fulfill the purpose for which they repre- 
sented their Lord in the world. The result of this process of 
organization was Congregationalism. — Dunning: Congregational- 
ists, p. 50. 

Is Congregationalism Biblical? Congregationalists do 
not claim that the government of the early Church was so 
rigid in its prescribed forms that no development of organic 
life should be undertaken without specific authority of 
Scripture; and they have been the most earnest promoters 
of Sunday schools, Christian Endeavor societies and mis- 
sionary and educational organizations. But they do claim 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 99 



that the organization of the Church should develop along 
lines that leave unimpaired the essential principles of the 
New Testament organization; and this they steadfastly 
endeavor to do. Thus there are few church organizations, 
if any, more stable in their fundamental principles, or more 
flexible in their adaptations. Congregationalists are confi- 
dent, first, that their government is built on the one and 
abiding Foundation, the authority of Christ and the prac- 
tice of the apostles; and, secondly, that where the Spirit 
of the Lord is, there is liberty of adaptation without sacri- 
fice of essential principle. 

When it is affirmed that the Congregational system of 
church government is scriptural, it is not intended to de- 
clare that no modification whatever has been made of New 
Testament forms, or even that those forms of government 
are so rigidly defined that any one denomination can claim 
a monopoly of the right to call itself a true Christian church, 
but three things may truthfully be claimed on behalf of 
the scriptural authority of the Congregational churches : 

(i) It is clearly taught in the New Testament that each 
local church was independent of all ecclesiastical control 
and free in the management of its own affairs. 

(2) The New Testament teaches that the bishops of 
the New Testament were not elevated in rank above the 
presbyters, but that every presbyter was a bishop and 
every bishop a presbyter. 

(3) That, while the New Testament churches had fel- 
lowship one with another and exercised that fellowship 
through instruction by the apostles and their associates and 
by other good men, and by councils convened for advice in 
matters of general concern, neither apostle nor council 
claimed the right to exercise arbitrary control over any 
local church or its pastor. 

In these three particulars Congregationalists claim to 
have preserved the essential character of the New Testa- 
ment churches. 

The Congregational Principle Biblical, If this principle of the 



100 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

independence of the local churches be conceded as an historical 
fact, then Congregationalism follows. This must be so, since 
Congregationalism is only the development of this principle into 
the methods of church fellowship. The only escape is in ecclesi- 
astical rationalism, or in an inner light, or in tradition, or in 
decrees of an infallible church; that is, one or more of the other 
than scriptural standards must be the ground of confidence. The 
competency of the New Testament and of the apostles must be 
denied. This is done by the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek 
Church, the controlling part of the Anglican Church, the Quakers, 
the Socinians, and the Rationalists, while others declare that 
Christ has not definitely specified the form of church polity; as 
though a polity not drawn out in detail could not have been deter- 
mined by revealing its constitutive principle. We have shown that 
a single principle dominates each of the four great polities that 
divide Christendom, and that, therefore, no definitely specified 
form of church polity is needed in order to develop a complete 
system. The oak is in the acorn; and a polity is in its constitutive 
principle. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, pp. 128, 129. 

Principles and Growth. Our polity is a matter of principles, and 
therefore a thing of life; being a matter of principles and a thing 
of life, it is also a subject of growth. The growing life must adapt 
itself to, and be modified by, the environments; it must also itself 
assimilate and modify the environments. That which makes it 
sui generis a true church polity cannot be modified; all else may 
be. Indeed, when we observe how changes carry the day in all 
matters of human thought and activities, we are ready to say, "All 
else except the fundamental and characteristic principles will be 
changed." — Ladd: Principles of Church Polity, p. 62. 

Freedom of Development. If the Christian Church is a divine 
institution, under divine guidance, it must be free at any period 
to adapt the fundamental principles which it derives from Christ 
to the exigencies of its life. So far as it follows that divine guid- 
ance, it is not only free to do so, but competent to do so. — Heer- 
mance: Democracy in the Church, p. 2. 

Power of Adaptation. There is no limit to the power of adapta- 
tion which our system possesses. We are not faithful to our ideal, 
if we do not avail ourselves of it. . . . So far as methods are 
concerned, the Church has power to put on institutions when it 
wants them, and to put them off when it is done with them. — 
Macfadyen: Constructive Congregational Ideals, pp. 116, 119. 

Ecclesiastical Law a Gradual Development. Ecclesiastical Law 
did not arise in any sense as the working out of a principle, but 
it developed gradually, and, so to speak, from case to case. — 
Harnack: Constitution and Law of the Church, p. 145. 

Is New Testament Usage Decisive? If we had a plain 
command of the Lord Jesus that the Church should forever 
be organized and conducted on a given plan, and precisely 
according to certain specific rules, the usage of the New 
Testament would be decisive for modern times and all 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 101 

times. But what we have is not of this character. We 
have few definite commands, and these we regard as of 
permanent obligation, and we have some clear indications 
of apostolic usage ; but the Church is still guided by the 
Holy Spirit and can work out its polity according to the 
needs of each successive age, holding always in plain view 
the fundamental principles which our Lord delivered to 
his disciples. 

Permanence of Form of Church Government. The Discipline 
appointed by Jesus Christ for his Churches is not arbitrary, that 
one Church may set up and practice one forme, and another an- 
other forme, as each one shall please, but is one and the same for 
all Churches, and in all the Essentials and Substantialls of it un- 
changeable, and to be kept till the appearing of Jesus Christ. And 
if that Discipline which we here practice, be (as we are perswaded 
of it) the same which Christ hath appointed and therefore unalter- 
able, we see not how another can be lawful; and therefore if a 
company of people shall come hither, and here set up and practice 
another, we pray you thinke not much, if we can not promise to 
approve them in so doing. — Richard Mather: Answer of the Elders, 
83. 

A certain presumption is created in favor of Congregational 
principles when it is shown that the polity of the apostolic 
churches was Congregational; but the presumption falls far short 
of a proof that the Congregational polity is of permanent divine 
authority. That the apostolic churches were Congregational does 
not even amount to a proof that Congregationalism is permanently 
expedient. Between a form of church government and those great 
truths concerning Christ and the Christian redemption which form 
the chief part of the substance of the New Testament there is 
an obvious difference. What is true once is true forever. That 
the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that He died for the 
remission of sins, that He rose from the dead, and received "all 
authority ... in heaven and on earth," must have been just 
as true in the second century as in the first, and in the third cen- 
tury as in the second. But a form of church government which 
was the best possible organization for the Church of the first 
century may, perhaps, have been the worst possible organization 
for the Church of the third. — Dale; Congregational Manual, pp. 4, 5. 



VI. THE MODERN CHURCH 

What Is a Church? A church is an organized body of 
Christian people, associated for worship, religious instruc- 
tion, and fellowship in service, meeting statedly together 
and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical usage or author- 
ity. 

Dexter's Definition. A church is an association of the friends 
and followers of Christ, for the profession of Christian faith, and 
the performance of Christian duty. . . Any company of peo- 
ple believing themselves to be, and publicly professing themselves 
to be Christians, associated by voluntary compact, on gospel prin- 
ciples, for Christian work and worship, is a church. — Congrega- 
tionalism, pp. 25, 34. 

Boynton's Definition. A church is a body of believers who 
covenant with each other for the purposes of worship, of mutual 
helpfulness in the religious life and of working together to extend 
the kingdom of God. — The Congregational Way, p. 51. 

These and similar definitions describe the local body of 

believers who constitute the church. This is the primary 

use of the term in the New Testament. "The Church in 

Jerusalem," "the Church in Corinth," "the Church in Anti- 

och" is the local congregation, composed of the believers 

in a given community, meeting statedly for worship and 

fellowship in the spirit of Christ. There is one and only 

one other use of the word church in the New Testament. 

That use is inclusive of the whole body of believers, and 

characterizes the definitions of Congregational authorities 

from the beginning. 

John Robinson's Definition. A church is a company of faithful, 
holy people, with their seed, called by the Word of God into a 
public covenant with Christ, and among themselves, for mutual 
fellowship, in the use of all the means of God's glory and their 
salvation. — Apology. 

Cambridge Platform. A Congregational church is by the insti- 
tution of Christ a part of the militant visible church, consisting of 
a company of saints by calling, united into one body bv a holy 
covenant, for the public worship of God, and the mutual edification 
one of another, in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus. — ii, 6. 

Punchard's Definition. A Christian church is a voluntary asso- 
ciation of persons professing repentance for sin and faith in Jesus 
Christ, united together by a solemn covenant for the worship of 
God and the celebration of religious ordinances. — This company 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 103 

should ordinarily consist of no more than can conveniently and 
statedly meet together for religious purposes. — To this assembly 
all executive ecclesiastical or church power is intrusted by Jesus 
Christ, the great Head of the Church. — History, 13, 14. 

Henry Jacob's Definition. Every particular ordinary congrega- 
tion of faithful people in England is a true and proper visible 
Church, jure divino — by right from God. — Reasons for Reforming. 

The Latin Definition. The company of Christians knit together 
by the profession of the same faith, and the communion of the 
same sacraments, under the government of lawful pastors, and 
especially of the Roman bishop, as the only vicar of Christ on 
earth. — Bellarmine De Eccl. Mil., iii, 2. 

The Church of England Definition. A congregation of faithful 
men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacra- 
ments duly administered according to Christ's ordinances, in all 
those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. — Thirty- 
Nine Articles, art. xix. 

The Augsburg Definition. A congregation of saints, in which 
the gospel is purely preached, and the sacraments are rightly ad- 
ministered. — Aug. Conf., art. vii. 

The Belgic Definition. A true congregation or assembly of all 
faithful Christians, who look for their salvation only from Jesus 
Christ, as being washed by His blood and sanctified by His Spirit. 
— Belg. Conf., art. xxvii. 

The Saxon Definition. A congregation of men embracing the 
gospel of Christ, and rightly using the sacraments. — Saxon Conf., 
art. xii. 

The Four Conditions of a Church. First, there must be a com- 
pany of Christians, a group of persons who have taken Him for 
their spiritual Master. . . . Second, there must be organiza- 
tion, or at least habitual association with an implied agreement to 
live together as a Christian company. . . . Third, the object 
of such association must be not merely occasional worship, but a 
common life, as including both work and worship. . . . Fourth, 
the company must "have his commandments and keep them." . . . 
Wherever, and just as far as, these four simple conditions are 
fulfilled, if it be only among two or three, there is a true church 
of Christ. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, pp. 12, 13. 

A Negative Definition. A Christian church, therefore, is not a 
confederation of many local congregations, under some one gen- 
eral head, whether that be a person, as bishop, patriarch, or pope; 
or under some system of government, as presbytery, synod, con- 
ference, or assembly. It is not an ecclesiastical system, extending 
over a wide area of country, claiming the right of control of all 
of similar faith within such territory. — Hiscox: Baptist Directory, 
p. 35. 

What Is the Church? The answer to the question, 
"What is the Church?" must depend upon whether we are 
speaking of the visible or the invisible Church. The visible 



104 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Church is the whole body of those who are united under 
various names in different organizations for effective fel- 
lowship and Christian activity in the world, and whose 
acknowledged head is Jesus Christ. The invisible Church 
is inclusive of all who have the Spirit of Christ, whether 
members of the visible Church or not. 

The Greek Definition. The Church is a divinely instituted com- 
munity of men, united by the orthodox faith, the law of God, the 
Hierarchy, and the sacraments. — Full Catec. of the Orthodox Est. 
Church. 

The Helvetic Definition. The Church is a community of be- 
lievers, or saints, gathered out of the world, whose distinction is 
to know and to worship, through the Word and by the Spirit, the 
true God in Christ the Saviour. — Helv. Conf., art. vcii. 

One Church and Many. The Church is one in nature, not one 
in number, as one ocean. Neither was the church at Rome, in the 
apostles' days, more one with the church at Corinth than was the 
baptism of Peter one with Paul's baptism, or than Peter and Paul 
were one. — John Robinson: Apology, in Hanbury, i, 374. 

The Christian church is universal, not tied to nation, diocese, 
or parish, but consisting of many particular churches, complete in 
themselves. — John Milton: To Salmasius, in Hanbury, iii, 373. 

The Organized Church. Christ teacheth, yea requireth, in 
Matt. 18: 17, that this visible and ministerial church shall be ever 
of one entire outward form, viz., of this special form of a par- 
ticular ordinary congregation and none other, . . . and the 
very word ecclesia doth properly signify so. — Henry Jacob: Divine 
Beginning and Institution of Christ's Church. 

Is the Visible the Same as the Invisible Church? The 

visible Church is not the same as the invisible Church. 
The two are related as the body and soul are related. As 
the body can grow out of proportion to the soul, so the 
visible Church may grow without the corresponding growth 
oi the spiritual organization which is its soul. Conversely, 
as the body can be mutilated and still the life maintained, 
the invisible Church can survive the cutting off of portions 
of the visible Church. The invisible Church is composed 
of all who have the spirit of Christ everywhere. While 
many of them are outside the visible Church, it may rever- 
ently be hoped that there are many who are within the 
invisible organization. Not all are Israel who are of Israel. 
There are those in the visible Church who have not the 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 105 

Spirit of Christ, and hence are not members of the true 
and invisible Church. There are those outside the visible 
Church who have the spirit of Christ, and hence are mem- 
bers of the invisible Church. "As many as are led by the 
spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8: 14). We 
have reason to believe that the invisible Church is very 
much larger than the visible Church. 

Visible and Invisible. This militant Church is to be considered 
as invisible and visible. Invisible, in respect of their relation 
wherein they stand to Christ, as a body unto the head, being 
united unto him by the Spirit of God, and faith in their hearts. 
Visible, in respect of the profession of their faith, in their persons, 
and in particular churches. And so there may be acknowledged an 
universal visible Church. — Cambridge Platform, ii, 3. 

There is a visible and invisible church. The invisible Church 
comprehends all real saints, or all of mankind, who will be finally 
sanctified and saved. But by a visible church we are to under- 
stand a society of visible saints. By visible saints are meant such 
as profess to be real saints and appear to be so in the eye of Chris- 
tian charity. Such persons as these are the materials of which a 
church of Christ is formed. — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt., i. 

Invisibility Above Visibility. The fact that there is upon earth 
a holy Christian people, redeemed by Christ, translated by faith 
out of the bondage of servants into the adoption of sons, bearing 
in itself life from God, can only be believed and not seen. The 
Church of Christ is an object of belief (or faith), therefore for 
the believer it is necessarily visible (in Word and Sacrament), but 
just as necessarily invisible to the world (in forms of Law). The 
invisibility of the Church of Christ removes it of necessity from 
the region of Law. The legally constituted church can never, as 
such, be the Church of Christ, and therefore can never speak in 
the name of the Church of Christ, can never enforce its ordinances 
as the ordering of the Church of Christ, as the ordering of the 
life of Christian men with God, because the Church of Christ is 
beyond the range of all legal order. — Sohm:Wtscn u. Ursprung d. 
Katholizismus, pp. 11 et seq. 

The Celestial Church. The Christian community in every city 
Mt not only a Church of God, but, like the latter, it belongs properly 
to heaven. . . . What may be called with some reservations 
the spiritual democracy within the whole Church, and therefore 
also within the individual community, comes into view very clearly 
in the attitude which Paul takes up in his epistles to the communi- 
ties. — Harnack: Constitution and Law of the Church, p. 49. 

The Church Militant and Triumphant. The Church, for all her 
advanced age, for all her apparent want of anxiety as to the 
imminence of the final judgment and for all the long future which 
she anticipates still on the earth, regards herself nevertheless as a 
provisional institution, a transitional organization. The Church of 
the world, called the Church Militant, is, as it were, the vestibule 



106 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

of the Church triumphant, which is the Kingdom of heaven realized 
in eternity. — Loisy: The Gospel and the Church, p. 168. 

What Is a Denomination? A denomination is a body 
of Christian churches united under a common name and 
recognizing common principles of faith and government. 

What Is a Sect? A sect is an integral section or unified 
portion of the whole Church of Christ united under a com- 
mon name or form of worship and fellowship. The term 
sect is essentially equivalent to that of denomination. But 
etymologically the term denomination is restricted to a 
body of churches bearing a common name, and the term 
sect is commonly used in a reprehensible sense. The term 
sect implies the state of being severed or cut off, and gen- 
erally carries with it a certain implication of wilful division. 
As so used, it is an uncharitable term and often untrue in 
its implication. 

What Is a Sectarian? Primarily a sectarian is any per- 
son belonging to a sect. In this sense the term could truth- 
fully be applied to any Christian since the days of the 
apostles, and even to most Christians in the apostles' day. 
The term sectarian implies the spirit of wilful separation. 
A person may belong to a sect and be loyal to it in the 
sense of believing in its principles and faithfully laboring 
for its prosperity, but without manifesting or cherishing a 
spirit that could truthfully be called sectarian. In the same 
sense a citizen may vote for the candidates of a given 
political party without manifesting a spirit that can truth- 
fully be described as partisan. A sectarian is one who 
possesses a sectarian spirit, and who for the sake of sect 
wilfully severs himself from other Christians, with whom 
he might be in fellowship. 

Is It Possible for Any Christian to Escape Sectarianism? 
It is not possible for any modern Christian to be in fellow- 
ship with other Christians and not be in a sect. Any part 
is less than the whole, and no one part or member of the 
body of Christ is the whole body, or has any right to speak 
of itself as such. It is uncharitable for any Christian to 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 107 

speak of any group of Christians as belonging to a sect 
unless he includes his own group or denomination in the 
same term. 

Withdrawing from all sects merely carries sectarianism 
to its outermost limit. He who seeks catholicity by with- 
drawing from all fellowship with the organic life of other 
Christians thereby establishes an atomistic sect, the small- 
est possible, and often the narrowest conceivable. It is 
possible for a person to throw off allegiance to all human 
governments, but he does not thereby become a citizen of 
the whole world. Dr. Hale's "Man Without a Country" 
is not the ideal world-citizen, nor is the Christian without 
a church either logically or practically non-sectarian. 
Islanders are not the most broadly cosmopolitan people in 
the world. The prayer of Christ for his disciples is not 
that they may be taken out of the world, nor out of associ- 
ation with their fellow Christians ; nor is it incumbent 
upon any one Christian presently to bring in the millennium 
of organic unity. It is his duty to use the world as not 
abusing it, and to live in that sect in which he can best 
serve God without cherishing a sectarian spirit. One of 
the first steps toward the cultivation of an unsectarian 
spirit should be each Christian's frank recognition of his 
own inevitable relationship to some particular branch of 
the Church of Christ, and to use that relationship in the 
spirit of the broadest Christian sympathy and largest prac- 
tical co-operation. No citizen can be simultaneously a 
voter in every country, or a soldier under every flag. That 
man is the best citizen of the world who is the best citizen 
of his own country, and who holds that citizenship in the 
broadest, freest and most peace-loving spirit. 

Is the Kingdom of Heaven Identical with the Church? 
The Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus preached finds its 
organic expression in the life of the visible Church. It 
does not follow, however, that the terms "kingdom" and 
"church" are synonymous. When these terms are used 
interchangeably in argument, confusion of thought is in- 



108 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

evitable. Illustrations may be found in certain polemic 
articles based on the statement in Acts 1:3, in which it is 
affirmed that Jesus during the forty days spoke to the dis- 
ciples "concerning the Kingdom of God." Certain sectarian 
writers have read into this statement a declaration that 
during the forty days Jesus must have revealed the whole 
system of church government which the adherents of these 
sects declare to be apostolic. The kingdom of heaven is 
within the disciples. It is not an outward and visible thing 
which one may locate, saying, "Lo here," and "Lo there." 
The Kingdom of God is invisible, but the organized church 
is a visible form of the invisible kingdom. 

The Kingdom and the Church. Christ used the phrase kingdom 
of heaven, or its equivalent, as recorded by Matthew, thirty-six 
times; but he used the word church in only two passages (Matt. 
16: 18; 18: 17). On the contrary, his apostles used the phrase king- 
dom of heaven, or its equivalent, in the Acts and Epistles, thirty- 
one times, and the word church one hundred and twelve times. 
The kingdom was becoming visible in organic form, and men spoke 
of the kingdom less and less, but of the churches more and more. — 
Ross: Church Kingdom, pp. 42, 43. 

Is the Church Building the Church? In the New Testa- 
ment, the place of worship is never spoken of as the church. 
The Puritans strongly objected to identifying the church 
with the conventicle or building in which its services were 
held. The church, in Congregational nomenclature, is the 
body of believers, and not the house in which they assem- 
ble. The Puritans were accustomed to speak of their place 
of worship as the meeting house. This was a fairly accu- 
rate translation of the term "synagogue." The custom of 
speaking of the church edifice as the church is, however, 
increasingly prevalent. Ordinarily the use of this term 
involves no misunderstanding, and it may be regarded as 
a permissible though not accurate use of the word. When 
so employed the term is used in a derivative sense. 

Can a Church Exist Without Officers? A church can 
exist without officers, but is incomplete in its organization. 
The lack of officers cannot invalidate the existence of a 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 109 

church. Logically and historically the church is before its 
officers. 

Robert Browne on Church Officers. Againe we know that a 
church must needs be before anie particular elder can be chosen. 
For one partie can not make a church, neither beget bodilie chil- 
dren to be of a church but by an helper. And therefore no elder 
did breed or beget a Church except there was first a church where 
he was. — A New Years Guift, p. 28. 

John Robinson on Church and Elder. Now if egge and bird be 
destroyed, I mean church & ministerye, as you imagine, & the one 
cannot be without the other, riddle & tell me which shall be first, 
& where we shall beginne, whether at the bird or at the egge, 
whether at the ministrye or att the church? Not att the church, 
for that (as you claim) must be gathered by a ministerie of Gods 
appoyntment. Not at the ministerie, for there can be none but 
Pastors and Teachers, and these cannott exercise a ministerie with- 
out a calling, nor haue a calling but from a true church, which must 
not be compelled by the maiestrate, but gathered by doctrine of the 
Word into a voluntarie covenant with God. Looke about you well 
and see that you arr wrapped up in your own cobweb, & eyther mst 
break itt and lett the fly go, or be swept awaie with it & her. — 
New Facts concerning John Robinson, p. 14. 

John Robinson. Whence it followeth, that both church matters, 
yea, and churches also, may, and in some cases must, be begun 
without officers; yea, even where officers are, if they fail to do their 
duties, the people may enterprise matters needful, howsoever you 
will have the minister the only primum movens, and will tie all to his 
fingers. — Works, ii, 148. 

Richard Hooker. A church, as totum essentiale, is and may be 
before the officers. A church is before its officers. However, a 
church is incomplete without its officers. — Survey, part i, 10-93; ii, 2. 
ii, 2. 

Isaac Chauncey. A church must be constituted before it can 
choose a pastor. A church is empowered from Christ to choose its 
own ministerial officers, before such a church hath elders or dea- 
cons. These are plain from the nature of a body corporate. — Divine 
Inst. Cong. Churches, 49-50. 

Is There Salvation Outside the Church? It is a favorite 
doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that outside the 
Church there is no salvation. There is a sense in which 
this is true, for all who are saved have membership in the 
true Church of Christ; but it is not true in any such sense 
as that salvation is limited to membership in any particular 
denomination or form of government. There was salvation 
before the organization of the Church. There is salvation 
far beyond the geographical and ecclesiastical bonds of the 



110 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

visible church. But in the very real sense in which it may- 
be affirmed that all who are saved have membership in the 
Church of Christ, it is certainly true that outside of that 
Church there is no salvation. 

The Church Not a Voluntary Society. A church is not strictly 
a voluntary society; for the word voluntary makes the will or 
option of the members a fundamental thing in its formation. This 
is false and pernicious in the extreme, implying as it does that a 
believer may rightly stay out of the local church, if he choose to 
do so. The believer is already in the church-kingdom in virtue of 
being a believer, of which church-kingdom every true church is a 
normal and fundamental manifestation. He cannot stay out of the 
local church, therefore, without violating the essential law of the 
church-kingdom, as well as the express command of Christ. He 
virtually denies the Lord that bought him. He refuses to manifest 
with others what he is as a redeemed sinner. And no wonder, 
when such is the case, that it soon became a maxim of the Roman 
Catholic Church: Out of the church there is no salvation. This 
maxim, hardened into a universal rule, is less pernicious when we 
take a true conception of local churches as manifestations of the 
church-kingdom, than the position that churches are voluntary 
societies. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 171. 

What Is the Protestant Church? Technically and prop- 
erly there is no such thing as the Protestant Church, but 
the term as commonly used in America is employed to 
designate those churches which do not acknowledge the 
authority of the Pope. 

The term Protestant is frequently objected to as being 
in its nature a negative term. It is not necessarily so. The 
following quotation is from the pen of Bishop Williams of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church: 

"Protestant" has come to describe simply churches that are not 
subject to Rome, and therefore truly describes our own communion. 
That is all it means to the popular mind. 

Originally, to be sure, it had a purely negative significance. It 
was derived from the protest of the Reformers against the errors 
and abuses of the Roman communion. And we have not yet gotten 
beyond the need of that negative connotation of the term. 

But the name "Protestant" has more and more acquired a posi- 
tive and constructive connotation. "Protestant" has come to mean 
"pro-test-ant" in the original sense of the word. It is a case of 
reversion to etymology. It stands for testimony and witness not 
simply against the errors and abuses of Rome, but in behalf of cer- 
tain positive truths and rights and privileges which are our most 
precious heritage from the Reformation and the Renaissance. It 
stands for liberty of conscience, freedom of the intellect, the demo- 
cratic ideal and movement, modern knowledge and learning, and 
the spirit of progress. 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION Hi 

Protestants. A mere calumny it is that we profess only a nega- 
tive religion. Romanists do call our religion a negative religion. 
But in the meantime they forget that we maintain all those aricles 
and truths which are contained in any of the ancient creeds of the 
Church, which I hope are more than negatives. "Protestants" did 
not get their name by protesting against the Church of Rome, but 
by protesting . . . against her errors and superstitions. Nor is 
protestation itself such an unheard of thing in the very heart of 
religion; for the sacraments . . . are called . . . "visible signs 
protesting the Faith." Now if the sacraments be signa protestantia, 
signs protesting, why may not men also, and without all offense, be 
called "Protestants," since by receiving the true sacraments and 
by refusing them which are corrupted, they do but protest the sin- 
cerity of their faith against that doctrinal corruption which hath 
invaded the great sacrament of the Eucharist and other parts of 
religion? I glory in the name of Protestant. My lords, I am as 
innocent in this business of religion, as free from all practice or so 
much as thought of practice for . . . anyway blemishing the 
Protestant religion established in the Church of England as I was 
when my mother first bare me into the world. I pray God his 
truth, the true Protestant religion here established, sink not! God 
of His mercy preserve the true Protestant religion amongst us! — 
Archbishop Laud. 

What Is the Holy Catholic Church? The Holy Catholic 
Church is the whole body of believers, now and in all ages. 
We can be content with no smaller definition. No one 
organization has any right to a monopoly of this name, 
nor can the incorporation of the word Catjiolic into any 
corporate name constitute a peculiar claim upon or right 
to its use. On this subject Bishop Williams, of Michigan, 
has written strong words : 

The significance of names cannot be decided by their etymology 
alone. Names are menstrua. They take up and carry in solution 
history and experience, and thereby acquire a popular interpreta- 
tion. For example, the word idiot means by derivation and ety- 
mology a private person, or a private citizen. It means in actual 
usage an imbecile. You might in a moment of temper call an iras- 
cible friend an idiot and then try to take refuge in your etymology, 
but I fear it would prove no sufficient defense against his justifiable 
wrath. 

Even so the term Catholic means by etymology universal. That 
was its original significance, and Arians and Athanasians alike 
claimed it. Later, it attached to a certain type of doctrine and 
practice which won out and so became established as orthodox. 
But to-day it has practically lost both significances and has come to 
describe the ecclesiastical institution subject to the jurisdiction of 
the Pope of Rome. And we cannot change that meaning by any 
action we may take. The name American Catholic would require 
perpetual explanation, and then remain forever inexplicable to the 



112 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

popular mind. Wc cannot find any secure refuge against popular 
misunderstanding in our etymology, or even historical interpreta- 
tion. 

The Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the whole com- 
pany of those that are elected, redeemed, and in time effectually 
called from the state of sin and death, unto a state of grace and 
salvation in Jesus Christ. — Cambridge Platform: ii, 1. 

Papal Theory Greek, Not Roman. The origin of the papal sys- 
tem is not in the constitution of the primitive churches. "This 
volume further demonstrates," says Bishop A. Cleveland Coxe, in 
his introduction to the American edition of the Antevicent Fathers, 
"what I have so often touched upon — the historic fact that primi- 
tive Christianity was Greek in form and character, Greek from first 
to last, Greek in all its forms of dogma, worship, and polity." And 
he refers to Dean Stanley as inviting "us to reform the entire 
scheme of our ecclesiastical history by presenting the eastern apos- 
tolic churches as the main stem of Christendom, of which the 
Church of Rome itself was for three hundred years a mere colony, 
unfelt in theology except by contributions to the Greek literature 
of Christians, and wholly unconscious of those pretensions with 
which . . . the fabulous decretals afterwards invested a succes- 
sion of primitive bishops in Rome, wholly innocent of anything of 
the kind. — Ross: Church Kingdom, p. 47. 

Can We Depend on External Authority? We cannot 
depend upon the authority of men for our right to continue 
in the world the work which Jesus committed to his dis- 
ciples, nor if we did could we be sure that any one man or 
system now extant monopolizes that authority. Those lean 
on a broken staff who depend on formal succession through 
the succession of Rome or other alleged unbroken line. 

For lists of the early bishops of Rome we depend upon 
three sources, no two of which agree. This is the way the 
lists begin, as they are preserved by Irenaeus, Tertullian 
and Augustine: 

Irenaeus Tertullian Augustine 

1. Peter 1. Peter 1. Peter 

2. Linus 2. Clemens 2. Linus 

3. Anacletus 3. Linus 3. Clemens 

4. Clemens 4. Anacletus 4. Anacletus 

On these three conflicting lists, Jacob remarks : "Even so 
well known a name as that of Clement is placed in three 
different positions, appearing as second, third and fourth." 
The more remote the historians from the time of these men 
the greater their confidence in their ability to make an ac- 



ECCLESIASTICAL EVOLUTION 113 

curate list. Eusebius, in the fourth century, even under- 
took to assign dates to their several episcopates! We 
simply do not know who succeeded Peter as Bishop of 
Rome, nor whether Peter was ever there. And if we are 
thus uncertain about Rome, what is to be said of the rest? 
Those who depend on such a line for their right to preach 
hang by a very slender and badly frayed thread, 



VII. THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 

Who May Organize a Church? The right to organize a 
church is inherent in the members who compose it. Any 
company of persons who love our Lord Jesus Christ in 
sincerity, and who live sufficiently near to each other to 
meet statedly for worship and to unite in Christian activi- 
ties, may organize themselves into a church. They may 
choose their own form of government, adopt their own 
method of electing their officers, and, so far as their methods 
of government and worship do not conflict with the rights 
of other organizations or disobey the laws of God or of 
the land, they may enjoy complete liberty within the church 
which they establish. 

John Robinson. And for the gathering of a church I do tell 
you, that in what place soever, whether by preaching the gospel by 
a true minister, by a false minister, by no minister, or by reading 
and conference, or by any other means of publishing it, two or 
three faithful people do arise, separating themselves from the world 
into the fellowship of the gospel, they are a church truly gathered, 
though never so weak. — Works, ii, 232. 

Samuel Hopkins. The word church signifies an assembly of 
men, called and collected together for some special purpose. The 
Church of Christ on earth consists of those who are united together 
as professed friends to Christ and believers in Him, are under ex- 
plicit engagements to serve Him. . . . Whenever a number of 
persons voluntarily unite together, under profession of holiness in 
Christ, to attend to his institutions and ordinances, they are a 
church.— Works, Vol. IX, p. 148. 

Cambridge Platform. The matter of the church in respect of its 
quantity, ought not to be of greater number than may ordinarily 
meet together conveniently in one place; nor ordinarily fewer than 
may conveniently carry on church-work. Hence when the Holy 
Scripture makes mention of the saints combined into a church- 
estate, in a town or city where was but one congregation, it usually 
calleth those saints the Church, in the singular number. — iv, 4. 

How May a Church Be Organized with a Council? The 

prospective members of a church should first hold a pre- 
liminary meeting and agree upon their desire to organize 
a church, and adopt a constitution and confession of faith. 
Having taken these preliminary steps, they may join in 
issuing a letter missive, to be signed by a committee of 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 115 

their own membership, inviting the Congregational churches 
of the vicinage to convene in council for the purpose of 
organizing a Congregational church. The list of churches 
to be invited to such a council should be prepared with 
care, and advice should be sought from the Advisory, or 
Home Missionary, or Church Extension Committee of the 
District Association, or from a neighboring pastor of ex- 
perience. 

The council being duly organized, the list of prospective 
members should be submitted. The letters of those who 
are to join by letter should be presented for examination, 
or a statement that they have been examined and that the 
examination is satisfactory should be presented to the 
council. It will often be a convenience if a map is pre- 
pared, in order that the Council may be shown what is the 
field of the proposed church and what are its geographical 
relations to other churches. 

The council, having received all statements which it 
deems necessary, concerning membership, territory, pros- 
pect of self-support, and the general need of the organiza- 
tion, may by vote be by itself. The council being by itself 
should carefully consider the questions submitted to it, 
and if it seems evident that the church ought to be organ- 
ized, it may return to the meeting with its finding, and 
report its approval. 

The moderator will then assemble the prospective mem- 
bers, and will call upon the scribe to read the vote by which 
the council has expressed its approval of the organization 
of the church. A motion is then in order, and should be 
made and seconded by two prospective members of the 
church, in substance, as follows : "Voted, that we now pro- 
ceed to the organization of a church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, to be known as Congregational Church." 

The council may now proceed at once to the completion 
of the organization. Those prospective members who have 
not been baptized should receive baptism. The moderator 
should read the church covenant, and call for its acceptance. 



116 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Either he, himself, or a member appointed for the purpose, 
should offer the right hand of fellowship. 

It is in order, however, that these services of assent to 
the covenant, and of baptism and the right hand of fellow- 
ship, be postponed until the evening or until a convenient 
Sunday. In either event, the church, under the direction 
of the council, should proceed to the adoption of constitu- 
tion, by-laws and form of admission of members. In all 
these matters the prospective members of the church will 
vote; the moderator and scribe of the council acting in 
their respective capacities on behalf of the church until the 
organization is complete. 

The constitution, covenant, and confession of faith being 
adopted, the council will resume its session, and will ap- 
point certain of its own members to take such further steps 
as may be advisable in any public service of recognition. 
The officers of the council should report the organization 
of the church to the District Association, and commend the 
church to the fellowship of that body. 

How May a Church Be Organized Without Council? 
The neighborhood should first be canvassed carefully, and 
a list of prospective members should be obtained. Those 
who are to become members should v carefully consider 
whether there is real need of a church in their neighbor- 
hood, whether it can be organized without encroaching 
upon the parish of some other church, and whether it can 
attain to self-support immediately or within a reasonable 
time. If it cannot support itself from the outset, but ex- 
pects missionary aid from the denomination, the prospec- 
tive members should seek advice from the officers of the 
state or local home missionary society. 

It will often be found advisable to circulate in advance 
a simple leaflet setting forth the purposes of the organiza- 
tion. Such a leaflet may set forth the essential features 
of the Congregational system, particularly as affording a 
basis of union for people of different denominations, and 
have a detachable leaf or card containing a simple prelim- 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 117 

inary covenant expressing the willingness of those who 
sign this card to become charter members of a new church. 
When these cards have been gathered, it will often be 
found of advantage to secure the signatures of the prospec- 
tive members to a simple preliminary covenant affording 
the basis of a temporary organization. The following has 
been used successfully in cases of this kind : 

"For the glory of God, for the service of our fellow men, 
for mutual assistance in our Christian life, and for the 
blessing of this neighborhood and of our children, the 
undersigned agree to become charter members of a Con- 
gregational church." 

It is of advantage that such a preliminary covenant be 
extremely brief and free from all technicalities. 

A preliminary meeting may now be held, and a com- 
mittee appointed to present a constitution, covenant and 
articles of faith. Very often, however, such preliminary 
meeting can be dispensed with altogether. Those who are 
the leaders of the movement may prepare in advance for 
the first draft of a constitution and articles of faith and 
present them for adoption at a later meeting for organiza- 
tion. 

A formal call should be issued for the organization, and 
become a part of the minutes of the meeting. It may be 
published in a local paper, or sent individually to prospec- 
tive members. Such a call, however, is not legally neces- 
sary for the first meeting. After a church is organized 
and has a definite body of members, notice of meetings 
must be conveyed according to some established method. 
In the interest of good order, it is well that the preliminary 
meeting should be publicly announced and a general invi- 
tation extended, but it is not necessary to the legality of 
the undertaking. Where two or three are gathered to- 
gether in the name of the Lord, the right of organization 
is inherent. 

An ample and somewhat elaborate constitution will be found in 
Barton's Congregational Manual, pp. 231-239. A briefer form, and 



118 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

one quite adequate for a small church, will be found in the same 
work, pp. 262-264. 

The following directions will serve for the organization 
of a church without the aid of a council: 

The prospective members being assembled according to 
notice or by mutual agreement, the meeting may be called 
to order, either by one of these prospective members, as, 
for example, the chairman of the committee on constitu- 
tion, or by a neighboring pastor, or by the chairman of 
the Advisory Committee of the Association. It is not 
necessary that the chairman of the meeting be one of the 
prospective members, and often it is better that he should 
not be. A temporary clerk should be elected, and the call 
of the meeting read. The names of the persons who have 
signified their intention of uniting with the church should 
be read. If a sufficient number of these are found to be 
present, the business of the meeting may proceed. It is 
not necessary that every person who has signed the pre- 
liminary covenant should be present, but it is advisable 
that a majority should be there, and that all those who are 
expected to become members should have been notified of 
the meeting. A permanent moderator and scribe should 
now be chosen, and prayer should be offered, either by the 
presiding officer or by some person designated by him. 

The persons who are to unite with the new church by 
letter from other churches should be asked to produce 
their credentials. If there are but a few of these letters, 
they may be handed to the scribe and publicly read and 
passed upon. If there are many, it is well to appoint a 
committee to examine the credentials, to certify that they 
are in due form, and to submit a definite list of those who 
are to become charter members by letter. 

The persons desiring to unite on confession of faith 
should also present their names and requests, and these 
persons should be examined as to their Christian faith and 
life. Such examination, however, if it is likely to be pro- 
tracted, should be had before a committee, who later should 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH llg 

report the results of their examination, recommending for 
church membership those whom they believe to be quali- 
fied. These two committees may be chosen either from 
among the prospective members or from ministers and 
representatives of other churches present, or the commit- 
tees may be dispensed with altogether. Where the pre- 
liminary steps have been taken with care and the letters 
have previously been gathered and inspected, it will often 
be found possible to pass upon the whole question of mem- 
bership without delay or reference to a committee. 

The two lists of names now being before the meeting, 
it is in order to ask whether there is objection to any name 
proposed. The prospective members have a right to be 
the judges of their own membership and to say with whom 
they are willing to associate together in the membership 
of the church. If they believe that any person who is pro- 
posed for membership is unworthy, they have a right by 
vote to decline to associate with that person as a charter 
member of the church. If no objection is raised to any 
one name, the names need not be voted upon separately. 

A list of prospective members having thus been made 
up and accepted, a motion is in order, and may be in sub- 
stance as follows : "Voted, that we now proceed to the 
organization of a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be 

known as the Congregational Church." This 

motion, being made and seconded, is open for discussion. 
If any doubt remains, it should now be made clear that 
such a church is needed; that the field is not already cov- 
ered by neighboring churches ; that these prospective mem- 
bers should be organized as an independent church rather 
than with a branch of some existing church; that the 
church which it is proposed to organize has good prospect 
of reaching self-support within a reasonable period, and 
that those who are to constitute the church are people of 
such standing in the community as represent its best life 
and interests and promise the welfare of the undertaking. 
These matters being established, the motion may be 



120 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

adopted. All the prospective members who have been ap- 
proved for membership have right to vote on this motion. 

The covenant, statement of doctrine, form for reception 
of members, constitution and by-laws may now be pre- 
sented and adopted; or, if these are not prepared, a com- 
mittee may be appointed to prepare them. 

It is often wise to adjourn the meeting at this point, 
and after all the business details have been arranged, to 
complete the organization in a Sunday covenant service, 
and to hold the charter membership open until that date. 
It will frequently be found that some people who have 
been hesitating concerning the church organization will be 
impressed by the simple dignity of the organization and 
will gladly unite at this stage, especially if the privilege 
of charter membership is extended. 

Moreover, the Sunday covenant service may be made 
a very impressive one. The additional members having 
been received by vote, the minutes of the meeting for 
organization may be read and approved, and the whole 
body of prospective members may then come forward to 
receive the right hand of fellowship. Those who have not 
been baptized should be baptized at this time, and the serv- 
ice may appropriately be followed by a communion service, 
and by a charge delivered to the church. 

It will be found that the method of organizing a church 
in two meetings, one upon a week day, called especially for 
the transaction of business, and the other called upon a 
Sunday for the purpose of uniting in a covenant, possesses 
marked practical advantages. The formal business can 
nearly all be transacted at the earlier meeting and the Sun- 
day service can be one of spiritual impulse. The two, how- 
ever, should be considered as two sessions of a single meet- 
ing, and so should be recorded in the minutes. Before the 
adjournment of the first meeting a motion should be 
adopted that the meeting adjourn to a definite date, which 
may properly be a Sunday one or two weeks removed. 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 121 

Without Council in Early Days. Though it be not usual, yet 
is it lawful to gather a church without other churches and ministers 
advise. — Thomas Goodwin: Works, Vol. IV, p. 107. 

With Council in Early Days. At gathering of churches, one of 
the messengers examines the candidates; and, on acknowledging 
their covenant, he pronounces them a true church, and gives them 
the right hand of fellowship. So did Mr. Welde at the founding of 
Weymouth Church. — Lechford: Plain Dealing. 

How May a Church Be Organized by an Association? 

If it is desired that the District Association itself organize 
the church, the Association may be invited to a special 
meeting for that purpose. The meeting should be called 
by the scribe of the Association according to its rules. The 
regular quorum of the Association suffices for a meeting 
for the organization of the church. A majority is not re- 
quired, as in the case of a council. The moderator of the 
Association presides and the work proceeds, as in the case 
where the church is organized by a council. In case it is 
deemed advisable to adjourn the meeting to a subsequent 
date, and to complete it in a Sunday service, the Associa- 
tion may appoint certain of its members to represent it in 
that service and to do those things necessary to complete 
the organization. These members, or a majority of them, 
are authorized thus to conduct the public service in accord- 
ance with the vote of the Association, even though they 
be not a quorum of the Association, but they are not 
authorized to take any other action. No power is delegated 
to them other than to represent the Association within the 
definite limits of their instructions. 

Room for Variety. One of the great virtues of Congregation- 
alism is that it is not run in the mould of a mechanical uniformity. 
Under our polity the machinery for oversight may vary in different 
sections of the country, both in kind and complexity. Our polity 
is elastic enough to allow variety without straining the fellowship 
between groups of churches. It leaves room for wide experiment- 
ing, and the adoption of machinery which experience elsewhere has 
shown to be wise. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, p. 131. 

How May a Church Secure Fellowship? A self-govern- 
ing church may secure the fellowship of other churches, 
similarly organized, either in connection with or subse- 



122 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

quent to its own organization. When it is proposed to 
organize a Congregational church, it is both safer and more 
courteous to secure in advance the advice and co-operation 
of the sisterhood of churches with which it is proposed to 
unite. The right of organization is inherent in the Jocal 
body of believers; the right of recognition belongs to the 
sisterhood of churches with which the local church expects 
fellowship. It is sometimes expedient, though not neces- 
sary or always advisable, that a council be called when a 
church is about to be organized. Often it is better that 
the District Association within whose geographical bounds 
the proposed church is situated, be asked to act officially 
in a conciliary capacity. Mistakes are often avoided if this 
method is pursued. Where for any reason a church is to 
be organized without the co-operation of a council or Asso- 
ciation, advice should be sought from the Advisory Com- 
mittee of the District Association, if that or a similar com- 
mittee exists, or from a neighboring pastor of standing and 
experience. 

How Is a Congregational Church Recognized? A 

church organized without council may properly call a coun- 
cil to recognize it as a Congregational church. To the 
council should be submitted a full report of the proceed- 
ings of organization, its declaration of faith, form of admis- 
sion, and rules. The council, convening on the day ap- 
pointed and being duly organized, should examine these, 
give advice in any matters of irregularity, and, if it approve 
the organization, should so certify in its finding. The Coun- 
cil further may recommend the church to the fellowship of 
the District Association. 

Two copies of the minutes of the council should be pre- 
pared and signed by the moderator and scribe. One of 
these should be furnished to the clerk of the church, entered 
in its record book, and permanently preserved. The other 
should be furnished to the registrar of the District Associa- 
tion. At the next meeting of the District Association the 
church should be represented by its pastor and a delegate. 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 123 

Formal application should then be made for admission. 
Resolutions to this effect may be substantially in the fol- 
lowing words: 

"Voted that the Congregational Church in 

, organized , 19. . . , and recognized by 

a council of the vicinage on , 19. . ., hereby applies 

for admission to the Association as a Congrega- 
tional church in good fellowship and regular standing." 

How May a Church Be Disbanded? Sometimes through 
changes in the population of a community it becomes advis^ 
able to disband a church, or to combine it with another 
church. In such a case competent advice should be sought 
to secure all legal rights in the premises. This is particu- 
larly important because of the wide divergence of the stat- 
utes in the several states. If money has been invested in 
the church work by the Home Missionary Society, or in 
the building by the Church Building Society, care should 
be taken to secure all the legal and moral equities involved. 
Public notice should be given that all members may have 
knowledge of the proposed action. In any case of doubt a 
council should be called or the advice of the District Asso- 
ciation should be sought. If any considerable number of 
the members still believe the church to be needed and are 
willing to continue its responsibilities, respectful heed 
should be given to their desires and promises, without, 
however, jeopardizing important interests for what may 
be a too confident hope. If it should finally appear that 
the church is no longer needed, the following steps may be 
taken: First, it may be voted that this church proceed to 
take the necessary steps to dispose of its property and to 
disband. Secondly, the trustees should be directed to dis- 
pose of the property, either by deed to the Congregational 
Church Building Society or in such other way as to provide 
for the proper securing of the interests of the denomination. 
A bill of sale of the personal property should also be author- 
ized. Thirdly, it should be voted that the clerk have author- 
ity to grant letters to all members now on the rolls of this 



124 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

church to any church with which the church is in fellow- 
ship. Fourthly, it should be voted that the records, when 
completed, be deposited with the registrar of the Associa- 
tion or with the State Conference. Finally, all necessary 
business being completed, it should be voted that this 
church do now disband. 

By What Majority Vote May a Church Disband? The 
answers to this question are various and by no means 
consistent. It sometimes has been held that only a unani- 
mous vote can disband a church. Sometimes it has been 
maintained that a majority vote is sufficient. Neither of 
these rules can be maintained. The disbanding of a church 
is first of all an important amendment of its constitution, 
and no smaller vote can disband a church than that which 
would amend its constitution in its most vital part. If the 
rules of a church provide that the constitution may be 
amended by a two-thirds vote, then in the absence of a 
particular rule, upon due notice from the pulpit a specified 
time in advance, an affirmative vote by a two-thirds major- 
its of those present and voting can disband a church. If 
the rules of the church contain any special provision as 
that "No essential change in doctrine or polity of this 
church shall be made without previous notice to all its 
members"; or, if for such change a larger vote than two- 
thirds be required, the largest vote and the widest notice 
required by the constitution for any action is necessary 
for the disbanding of a church. 

Dr. Dexter maintained that a unanimous vote would be 
necessary to disband a church; and then, with what was 
for him a singular inconsistency, he provided a method 
whereby a bare majority might do so, and that with the 
harshness of church discipline : 

Rights of the Minority. Should a minority resist, and claim to 
be the church still, in plea that a majority vote cannot take away 
their covenant right to belong to that church; it may be replied 
that only majority action gave them that right, and that an unrea- 
sonable and contumacious dissent from the opinion of the major 
portion of their brethren backed by the judgment of an impartial 
council, is entitled to no respect, and becomes in reality an offense 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 125 

worthy of censure. Should opposition still be maintained, the way 
becomes open for dealing with them for such offense, and thus 
making it possible for unanimous assent to the decision of the body 
in its majority. — Handbook, pp. 117, 118. 

We confess surprise at this advice from so sane and 
just an authority as Dr. Dexter. Neither of his answers 
can be defended successfully. A bare majority may not 
disband a church, much less arbitrarily excommunicate a 
minority in the process. Nor is a unanimous vote to be 
required. In the Salem case, referred to by Cummings in 
the following quotation, neither of the two contentions can 
be allowed. A church can disband, but such a proceeding 
is a radical amendment of its constitution, and a majority 
vote is insufficient. 

It is understood to have been recently decided by a council, in 
a case in Salem, Mass., that a majority have no right to disband a 
church and divide the property. On the one hand, the sovereignty 
of the majority was pleaded; and, on the other, that the majority 
have no right to repudiate their own covenant engagements. — Cong. 
Diet., Majorities. 

May Two Churches Unite? Two or more churches, 
both being incorporated and owning their own property, 
may unite. The essential proceedings necessary to such a 
union are: First, that each church separately shall vote in 
favor of such a union. The vote necessary to such an 
action is that required for the amendment of the constitu- 
tion, and notice should be given in advance, in accordance 
with the particular rules of each church. Secondly, the 
two churches should by separate vote agree upon a time 
for a joint meeting, at which time the merger shall be made 
complete. Thirdly, the two churches being assembled in 
joint meeting, the merger may be effected either by (a) 
the blending of the two into an organization which perpet- 
uates both churches; (b) the merging of one church into 
the other, or (c) the formation of a new church, composed 
of the membership of both. 

The first of these is the most difficult. It is not easy 
for two churches to become one and retain the form of 
organization of two. The details for such an organization 



126 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

must be wrought out subject to the rules of the two uniting 
churches. 

The union is far simpler where one church is merged 
into the other. It may be done in the following order: 
First, the trustees of the church that is to be dissolved by- 
vote convey their property, both real and personal, to the 
other organization. Secondly, the clerk is authorized to 
grant letters to other churches to any members who are 
unwilling to join in the merger, and to issue letters for all 
of the members addressed to the church with which it is 
planned to unite. Such letters should be prepared in ad- 
vance and be ready to be signed as soon as the vote is cast. 
The names of all those who are to unite with the proposed 
church may be included in a single letter. All these papers 
being duly signed and delivered, a vote to disband is in 
order. Care should be taken that this vote is not passed 
until all the preliminaries of the merger have been attended 
to. 

The third method also is comparatively simple. A new 
church being organized and incorporated, each of the older 
churches may convey its property and transfer its member- 
ship to the new organization. In some respects this is the 
simplest method of the three, but it has the serious disad- 
vantage of sacrificing the past history of the two organiza- 
tions. This may be avoided if care is taken to include in 
the enacting clause of the vote of merger a statement that 
this church perpetuates in its organization both the merg- 
ing churches and considers as its date of organization the 
date of the older church of the two. 

The choice of name does not necessarily depend upon 
the question which of these three forms is employed. For 
instance, if the First and Second Churches of a given town 
unite, the union may perpetuate the organization of the 
Second Church and the name and history of the First 
Church; or, they may adopt the constitution and covenant 
of the First Church and continue the history of both 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 127 

churches, but adopt a new name, as for instance, Plymouth 
Church. 

The principles and methods laid down in this section 
are valid ; yet the union of two or more churches is so deli- 
cate a matter, involving so many vested interests, that it is 
wise to consult a good Christian lawyer and someone expert 
in church polity. In some of the older states a special act 
of the legislature has been found necessary to effect mergers 
and at the same time to preserve historic and vested rights. 

The new First Church in Chicago combines the First 
and Union Park churches, but takes the date of the new 
organization in 1910. The combination might have been 
so accomplished as to retain the date of the original First 
Church, 1851. 

What Are the Rights of the Minority in Cases of 
Merger? In case two churches unite against the will of 
some of the members of one or the other of the merging 
churches, the minority members lose none of their rights 
by the merger. They are entitled to vote against it if they 
choose. If, however, their vote does not prevail and the 
merger is effected, it is their Christian duty to accept the 
situation. They are entitled to ask for letters to other 
churches if they wish. If they do not desire such letters, 
they are still members in good standing in the united 
church. The church should so regard them and they should 
so regard themselves. Their covenant duty is to seek the 
edification, purity, and peace of the church. They should 
do this consistently and conscientiously, and the church 
should bear with them patiently in the pain they feel by 
reason of the merger. If they cannot become reconciled 
to the new organization, they should ask for letters and 
withdraw in a spirit of love, but if they stay, as they have 
a perfect right to stay, their privileges and duties are in no 
way impaired by their having voted with the minority. 
All the privileges and all the duties which were theirs be- 
fore the merger continue in the united church. So long as 
the question of the merger is under discussion they have a 



128 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

right to vote and speak against it. After the merger is 
effected they should desist from further opposition. 

May a Church Divide? A church may divide by vote. 
This action, however, is unusual. It is very different from 
that which one church takes in uniting with another. A 
church cannot by majority vote dismiss a group of mem- 
bers against their individual choice. It cannot create a 
new church by setting apart certain of its members who 
are to form it whether they will or no. A parish may 
divide geographically, but it cannot compel one of its mem- 
bers who lives beyond the dividing line to transfer his 
membership to the organization not of his choice. In a 
case where a church is removing from the center to one 
side of its parish and finds it advisable to plant an organi- 
zation on the farther side, it is seldom advisable to attempt 
a horizontal division of the membership. It will usually 
be found better to form a new organization on the opposite 
side from that where the mother church is located and to 
advise members living upon that side of the town or parish 
to transfer their relations to it as charter members. In 
such cases regular letters would be given to the members 
of the newer church. But such a vote is advisory only. 
If the members resident in the neighborhood of the new 
church prefer to retain their membership in the old church, 
they have that right. 

How May Other Churches Become Congregational? 
An undenominational church may by vote become Congre- 
gational. It may and should also vote to apply for admis- 
sion into the Congregational Association within whose 
bounds it is situated. On being received by that body, it 
becomes a Congregational church in good standing and in 
fellowship. A church affiliated with a denomination other 
than Congregational should first sever its relations with 
that denomination by withdrawing from conference, pres- 
bytery, or other ecclesiastical connections, in order to unite 
with the district association of Congregational churches. 

If any members in such a church vote against uniting 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH 129 

with the Congregational denomination, they are not thereby 
cut off from membership in the church. In case a Univer- 
salist or Unitarian church votes to become Congregational, 
and certain of its members vote against the change and re- 
fuse to accept the covenant or conform to the doctrinal 
views supposed to be involved in the change, these mem- 
bers do not thereby cut themselves off from fellowship with 
the church of which they have been members, or of the 
denomination into which they come. They still are mem- 
bers in good and regular standing, and should be treated 
with great consideration. They on their part should also 
remember their obligation to seek the welfare of the church 
of which they still are members and of the denomination 
of which they now have become a part. If they continue 
to object to the change and demand dismission, they should 
be dismissed affectionately, and to the church of their choice. 
Ordinarily such dismission should be requested prior to the 
merger, but if the request is delayed and is made later, it 
is both courteous and expedient to grant the request. 



VIII. THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 

What General Rules Govern Church Business? Each 

local church makes its own rules for the conduct of its 
meetings. When a rule of the local church provides for 
the transaction of business according to a particular form 
or method, such rule takes precedence over all general rules. 
Such rule is to be interpreted, however, in the light of 
general principles and of denominational usage. Where no 
specific rule exists, general parliamentary law and usages 
of the denomination govern. It is well for every church to 
have in its by-laws a reference to some work of acknowl- 
edged repute and standing to which final appeal is to be 
made in matters not provided for in local rules. Such a 
by-law may read as follows: "In all matters not provided 
for in the constitution of the church, or in these by-laws 

and rules, this church shall be governed by 

Congregational Manual." 

What Is the Jurisdiction of the Local Church? The 
local church has supreme authority in matters pertaining 
to its own government, but the principle of autonomy goes 
farther in its application than the local church. As the 
local church is self-governing in its own sphere, so is the 
District Association within its sphere, and the State Con- 
ference in matters for which the churches of the state have 
created it. The principle of local autonomy does not mean 
that any one local church shall rule a conference of 
churches. As the local church is supreme in its own inter- 
nal affairs, so the churches constituting an Association 
possess an autonomy in matters of associated concern. 

In matters concerning the denomination as a whole, the 
National Council has its own autonomy. It cannot legis- 
late for any state conference, or district association, or even 
for any local church; at the same time, the principle of 
local autonomy does not mean that the single local church 
has authority over all the churches. The smaller body can- 
not be compelled to obey the larger one; neither can the 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 131 

1 

smaller body veto, excepting for itself and within its own 
sphere, the finding of the larger body. Within the local 
church itself the authority of that church is greater than 
that of the State Conference, or even of the National Coun- 
cil; but in the transaction of the business of the state or 
nation, the local church is one among many, and has as 
much authority as is expressed in the votes of its accredited 
delegates, and in their combined wisdom expressed in a 
deliberative body wherein all other churches within the 
same territory are entitled to like representation. , 

Independence of Local Church. Each Congregational church is 
independent of every other church. Any number of believers may 
come together and form a church. These believers, thus associ- 
ated, are responsible to themselves alone under their acknowledged 
Head, Jesus Christ. If there is any relation this communion may 
hold with any other church, it is not of any organized sort, since 
no other church, or any number of churches, may legislate for it. — 
Asher Anderson: Congregational Faith and Practice, p. 5. 

Are Home Missionary Churches Self -Governing? Any 

church while receiving home missionary aid should recog- 
nize the guidance of the body through which the aid is 
extended. To call a pastor who is disapproved by the 
society which is expected to aid in his support is not rea- 
sonable independence. A church which has received home 
missionary aid or assistance from the Church Building So- 
ciety and which proposes to sever denominational relations 
before it has repaid that aid, displays not reasonable inde- 
pendence but a close approach to dishonesty. The fact that 
a church is financially dependent does not, however, de- 
stroy its autonomy. It might be said that a dependent 
church is not an independent church ; but that would be 
true only within certain limits. A dependent church loses 
none of its independence, excepting within the sphere of 
that dependence. Financial dependence involves certain 
principles of financial honor which should be sacredly rec- 
ognized; but the dependence ends with the discharge of 
such obligations as grow out of those financial relations. 
We meet, therefore, the paradox that a dependent church 
may, notwithstanding, be an independent church, but the 



132 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

dependence imposes certain restrictions upon the independ- 
ence. 

What Constitutes Final Authority? The civil courts 
have repeatedly been called upon to decide questions be- 
tween local churches and the denominations to which they 
belong. Two very different sets of decisions have been 
handed down, based on the question whether the local 
church is or is not self-governing according to the usage 
of its own denomination. The United States Supreme 
Court has decided that in any given denomination the high- 
est ecclesiastical court within the denomination will be 
recognized by the civil authority. In Congregationalism, 
therefore, each local church is supreme in all matters per- 
taining to its own government. In matters which relate 
to the lawful claims of the denomination through mission- 
ary societies, district associations, or other bodies, the de- 
nomination has a right to safeguard itself for the protection 
of vested rights. 

How Should Church Meetings Be Called? The ordinary 
business of a local church may be transacted at any mid- 
week meeting, or in case of necessity at the Sunday serv- 
ice, without previous notice. No question involving the 
appropriation of money, or important change in the polity 
of the church, or amendment to its system of doctrine or 
rules, should be undertaken without previous public notice. 
Constitutions commonly specify the manner in which such 
notices should be given. In the absence of specific rules, 
it may be accepted as a sound principle that no measure 
involving a considerable expenditure of money, or sale, or 
incumbrance of the church property, or alteration in the 
church building, or change in the constitution or rules 
should be adopted at the same meeting at which it is pro- 
posed. Having been introduced, it should lie upon the 
table for at least one week, and announcement of it be 
made from the pulpit, and if the action proposed is radical, 
a larger and more general notice should be given. In gen- 
eral, propositions contemplating the expenditure of money 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 133 

should previously be considered by the trustees, and mat- 
ters affecting the polity, doctrine or spiritual concerns of 
the church should be considered by the deacons or pru- 
dential committee. This is not legally necessary, but it is 
a courteous recognition of those in office. It tends to 
assure care in the preparation of business, and a motion 
gains greatly in favor if the person proposing it is able to 
state that this has received the approval of the official 
board whom most nearly it concerns. 

How Are Special Meetings Called? Special meetings 
may usually be called by the pastor, or by one of the official 
boards, or by the petition of a group of members, not less 
than five in number. Where a special meeting is called, 
the purpose for which it is called should be definitely stated 
in the notice. Such a notice might read as follows : 

"A special meeting of the church is hereby called in 
the lecture room of the church at 8 o'clock on Wednesday 
evening, January 25, to consider the question of purchasing 
a new organ." 

As such a call involves both music and money, it might 
properly be signed by the Music Committee and the 
trustees. If the matter involved were a change in the creed 
or order of service, it might properly be signed by the 
deacons. Any considerable group of members, however, 
may call a meeting for a particular purpose, public notice 
being given from the pulpit in regular form. Many 
churches specify a minimum number of members, as five, 
seven or nine, who may call a special meeting. It is more 
dignified that meetings should be called by the pastor or 
an official board, and they will rarely refuse. Where they 
do refuse, however, the rights of the members are to be 
protected as above stated. 

What Constitutes a Quorum? Every church ought to 
provide in its rules for a quorum. The rules should state 
the smallest number of members who may legally do busi- 
ness in the name of the church. Where no quorum is pro- 
vided for in the rules, the business of the church may be 



134 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

transacted by any number of members assembled in a 
meeting regularly called. 

If a quorum is present at the beginning of the meeting, 
it is assumed to be present throughout unless the question 
of a quorum is raised. If a group of members wish to 
defeat the evident purpose of the majority of a small meet- 
ing by withdrawing and leaving the meeting without a 
quorum, they should distinctly call attention of the chair 
to their proposed departure, and to the fact that the meet- 
ing will then lack a quorum. 

May a Meeting Transact Other Business than That for 
Which It Is Called? A special meeting of the church may 
not properly transact any other business than that for 
which it is called. For instance, if a group of five members 
of the church request the reading of a notice on a given 
Sunday morning that a meeting be held on some evening 
during the week "to consider the general interests of the 
church," such a meeting has no authority to demand the 
resignation of the pastor, or to transact any business what- 
ever. If the call were to read, "to consider general interests 
of this church and to take such action relating thereto as 
the church may by vote determine," the meeting could 
transact almost any business not forbidden by its rules. 
If such a meeting should demand the resignation of the 
pastor, such action would be subject, however, to any gen- 
eral rule of the church relating to the tenure of the pas- 
toral office, as for instance, that it could only be terminated 
on a three months' notice or by a concurrent vote of an 
ecclesiastical council. 

It is not wise for a church to attempt to conceal the 
object for which a meeting is to be held. The precise 
matter to be submitted to the church should be stated in 
the call; otherwise serious question may arise as to the 
authority of the meeting to act in the premises. 

Where special meetings are called, whether by one of 
the official boards or by a group of members, the call with 
the signatures of those who have drafted it should be read 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 135 

from the pulpit on the Sunday previous to the meeting and 
incorporated into the minutes of the meeting. 

Who Presides at Church Meetings? Unless the consti- 
tution of the church provides otherwise, the pastor com- 
monly acts as moderator in all business meetings of the 
church, excepting those which relate to his own salary or 
work, or which may be called for the consideration of some 
matter in which he has a personal interest. Some churches 
provide in their constitutions for an elected moderator 
other than the pastor. In some states the moderator must 
be elected annually. In Massachusetts, the circular sent 
out by the Secretary of State to churches that are planning 
to incorporate definitely recommends that the moderator 
be not the pastor of the church. 

In churches which have no rule concerning the moder- 
ator and in which the pastor presides by right of established 
custom, the church may at any meeting elect another 
moderator at its pleasure. In the absence of the pastor, the 
meeting may be called to order by the senior deacon, or if 
the business in hand relate particularly to money or prop- 
erty interests, by the chairman of the board of trus$@e§?a!f 
the trustees are elected by the church and^ ijpjg fjijy 5 J$e 
society. sbioab bluodz l£rti 

Should the Pastor Preside? It is manif e3«J$e69prt>|kr 3fcH the 
pastor should preside at a meeting JYj^rgJih^ ^h^hSft *B Fjj69RT 
tinuance in the pastorate is to be considered, or any matter regard- 
ing his relation to the-fehi&fcf£*iTB<fe#Sf3lfe Mi altfegaPSlgtttoa&Jii 
member to be ther^hftdiaatf rtg^ljMmi&n ^t^t^flip 
stands on his legal rights either has already lost, or is sure to For- 
feit, his claim un^eV^Ke Kfl£ 6F Gm&f&Bbtftom Q&e^is£ti&fc&- 
tional Way, p. 72. 130 fft o gnibiasiq isrfro \ns ni ^gnimoDsdnu 

MemB8r sdf *hfe fihwDhJxilUnlfcssnitlMsl c$)istiiuitiB5h le&iihe 

fiiflfeeJ-rtttijaaf^i&^tHtee^ 

tfp te^te^. 1 ^J*efe 1 ^^ n tMi^^i€it> 9 ?F i * <**pMlel$t<<?Hai 

rlDijjfiJ no 92i}£9iT £ oJ t9W2nA girl rn t amjBbA biba£S .ilDiyda 



136 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

itself in need of expert advice. There are many deliber- 
ative bodies in which this liberty prevails. The House of 
Representatives in Congress has thus far uniformly chosen 
one of its own members as presiding officer, but at different 
times the possibility of another choice has been consid- 
ered. There is nothing in the Constitution or Statutes of 
the United States which would prevent the House of Rep- 
resentatives from choosing as its speaker any person whom 
it deemed advisable so to elect. It has been truthfully said 
that the House could choose as its speaker "a foreign prin- 
cess under age." The church has the same liberty, though 
ordinarily the moderator will naturally be chosen from the 
membership. 

Who Presides at Annual Meetings? At annual meet- 
ings of an incorporated church the custom varies somewhat 
according to the laws and usages of the different states. 
In some of the New England states a moderator must be 
elected. The following statement by Dr. Boynton holds 
good in some states but not in all: 

Moderator at Annual Meetings. At the annual meeting of an 
incorporated church the moderator must be elected, usually by bal- 
lot, and it depends on the church whether it shall be the pastor or 
not. If some other member will preside better or more impartially, 
that should decide the choice. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 72. 

Has the Pastor the Power of Veto? The pastor, it 
should not need to be said, has no veto over the action of 
his church. He has the authority of his office as a presiding 
officer, and no more. He may not properly use his position 
to further his own measures in any manner that would be 
unbecoming in any other presiding officer. 

Power of Veto. Increase Mather, in his Disquisition on Eccle- 
siastical Councils (p. 14) incidentally intimates that the Platform 
gives the pastor the power of veto in the church of which he is 
pastor. Eliot, in his "Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts," 
says: "After the Platform, some ministers claimed more than it gave 
them, and some claimed a power to negative the proceedings of the 
church." Zabdiel Adams, in his "Answer to a Treatise on Church 
Government," says: "The keys are so lodged with elders and breth- 
ren as never to be used but by mutual consent." He maintains 
that, since ruling elders have ceased, the whole power of the bench 
of elders rests with the pastor (pp. 76-83). Eliot asserts that in 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 137 

these matters he took a position which could not be maintained by 
the Platform, nor any just sentiments of religious freedom. — Cum- 
Lechford: Plain Dealing, in Hist. Soc. Col., Series III, Vol. Ill, 74. 

No Veto Power. Not even an installed pastor may refuse to 
put a motion when properly made, much less can he refuse to de- 
clare the vote or veto church action. He may vacate the chair and 
resign his pastorate; but should he presume to lord it over the 
church in any one of these three ways, the church may remove him 
from the chair by electing another moderator in his stead. The 
pastor, as moderator, is bound by the ordinary parliamentary rules, 
except as they are modified by Congregational usages. — Ross: 
Church-Kingdom, p. 191. 

Do the Majority Rule? The statement that the majority 
rule may be accepted as being generally true. This does 
not, however, imply the right of a majority to ride rough- 
shod over the feelings of the minority. The purpose of the 
majority vote is to determine the will of God through the 
judgment of the membership. Where a strong difference 
of opinion develops, the majority at the particular time of 
the ballot is not certainly indicative of the will of God. The 
spirit of truth often finds expression through the protest 
of the minority. The majority should carefully consider 
any serious protest on the part of the minority and proceed 
with Christian deliberation and with brotherly spirit. 
Questions likely to be divisive should rarely be forced to 
a vote until there has been patient and loving effort to 
secure unanimity. The minority may not determine the 
policy of the church; but when there is earnest protest by 
a considerable minority, Christian courtesy will ordinarily 
indicate the wisdom of deferring action until there can be 
practical unanimity. 

Majority. Whatever passes in the church by a majority of the 
brethren is a church act. — Isaac Chauncy: Divine Inst. Cong. 
Churches, p. 105. 

The greater number must always rule, but they are, in certain 
cases, under moral obligation not to insist on their right; as, for 
instance, in receiving a new member to the church when a portion 
seem conscientiously dissatisfied. — Watts: Foundation of a Chris- 
tian Church; Works, iii, p. 240. 

Majorities must govern, and minorities ought to rest satisfied, 
save in cases of conscience, where they should protest. — Hopkins: 
System, ii, 350-350. 

The churches govern each by all the members unanimously, or 



138 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

else by the major part, wherein every one hath equal vote and 
superspection with their ministers. In Boston, they commonly 
rule by unanimous consent, if they can; in Salem, by majorities. — ■ 
Letchford: Plain Dealing, in Hist. Soc. Col., Series III, Vol. Ill, 74. 

It is not common to settle questions of great importance by 
the vote of a bare majority. A greater degree of unanimity is 
usually sought, and generally obtained. — Punchard: View of Con- 
gregationalism, p. 170. 

Theory and Method. Our theory, however, is unanimity, not 
majority and minority. We seek the instruction, conviction and 
unanimous action of the total constituency involved. We labor 
and wait for this, believing in it, knowing it to be the highest 
reservoir of power. Our system stands for the utmost absence 
of unwelcome coercion, though it should be but the carrying away 
of a small minority by a great majority on a trivial issue. And we 
believe that what is true and wise ought to be, and at length will 
be, unanimously accepted. We are, on the other hand, quite ac- 
customed to the power of minorities to hinder or to mar, even to 
hold the real truth and carry it finally to victory. — Nash: Cong. 
Administration, pp. 26-27. 

Is Church Business Governed by Parliamentary Rules? 

Church business is governed by ordinary parliamentary 
rules, and members should be careful to observe these rules 
in all business and discussions. This does not mean, how- 
ever, that such rules should be administered arbitrarily, 
or that a member who, through lack of technical knowl- 
edge, makes a mistake in the mere form of his motion or 
discussion should be ruled out of order in arbitrary fashion. 
Methods of securing advantage in the form of a vote, 
which might be perfectly allowable in a political convention 
and quite in order from the standpoint of mere parlia- 
mentary law, may be highly discourteous in meetings for 
the transaction of the business of the church. Church busi- 
ness should be transacted in a brotherly spirit. All things 
should be done decently and in order, with fraternal con- 
sideration and without needless technicality. 

Common Rules Observed. All matters relating to the affairs 
of any Christian church, or of the churches assembled together, 
should be discussed and decided in the simplest and most fraternal 
way. And yet, in order that progress may be made, and that all 
may be content with the results, it is necessary that the common 
rules for conducting business should be observed by all and en- 
forced by the presiding officer. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p, 
202, 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 139 

Where the Majority Leave the Meeting, Can the Minor- 
ity Transact Business? The following case will serve as 
an illustration of what sometimes happens: A pastor had 
become unpopular with the majority of his members. A 
meeting was called to consider the advisability of request- 
ing his resignation. Just before the time of the meeting 
word was whispered round among those present that the 
minister himself intended to be at the meeting and to take 
the chair, and there was fear that if he did so his presence 
and personal influence would defeat the will of the majority. 
About one hundred members quietly withdrew to a private 
house and there held a meeting in which they passed a 
motion demanding the resignation of the minister. Only 
eleven persons remained in the church building. The con- 
stitution provided that thirteen should be necessary for a 
quorum. These eleven sent out and with some difficulty 
secured two other members to come and attend their meet- 
ing. This meeting requested the minister to remain as 
pastor of the church. Which was the real meeting of the 
church? 

The thirteen members constituted the meeting of the 
church. Any majority of a hundred who would withdraw 
for fear of a minister who had a pitiful handful of eleven 
members at his back would richly deserve to be ruled by 
the minority. Whether it would be wise for the minister 
to remain as pastor of a church in the face of such strong 
opposition is another question. The one hundred members 
who withdrew forfeited their right to determine the ques- 
tion of the pastorate. If they feared the minister would 
preside, it was easily within their power to remove him 
from the chair. Any member could have risen, and some 
member should have risen, and nominated another person 
as moderator. The pastor not only should not have pre- 
sided, but, after making his personal statement, should 
have withdrawn from the room. 

Where the Majority Leave the Church, Which Is the 
Church? Where a majority of the members demand their 



140 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

letters and withdraw from the church, they have a right to 
form another church, but they cannot rule the church which 
they have left, or claim to be the church; nor can they re- 
turn and participate in its deliberations. 

In one case, a majority of the members being opposed 
to the minister demanded their letters and the letters were 
granted. These letters, however, were not presented to 
any other church and at the time of the next annual meet- 
ing these dismissed members returned, and, being a major- 
ity present at the meeting, insisted upon their right to vote. 
They had no such right. Church members who attempt to 
govern the church by leaving it must abide by the results 
of that decision. If they fail to drive out a minister by 
that not very courteous or courageous method and do not 
succeed in forcing his resignation, they must permit the 
church to govern itself, for those who remain constitute 
the church even though they are a minority of its previous 
membership. 

What Rules Govern Annual Meetings of the Church? 
The constitution or rules of a church should provide a time 
and order of business for its annual meeting. In many 
churches this meeting is held near the end of December or 
early in January. This has the advantage of making the 
church fiscal year coincident with the calendar year. It 
has the serious disadvantage of dividing the year of church 
activity in the middle. As the custom of summer vacations 
grows, the church year becomes more and more the period 
from autumn to summer. Some churches meet this diffi- 
culty by holding their annual meeting early in the autumn 
and their meeting for final reports in the early part of Jan- 
uary. This enables the officers to plan for the season of 
work without uncertainty as to their tenure of office, and 
it also enables the church to close its books and account 
for its moneys at the end of the calendar year, and tends 
to unite the churches in a common fiscal year. 

The business of the church meeting usually includes the 
election of officers, the hearing of reports, and the summing 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 141 

up of the work of the year. It is customary to elect the 
clerk and treasurer for a single year, but deacons and 
trustees are usually elected in terms so that only one-half 
and frequently less than one-half of these officers are chosen 
annually. This method provides for occasional changes in 
the governing boards of the church and also for a degree 
of continuity in their management. 

What Business Should Be Recorded? The essential 
items to be entered upon the records in regard to any par- 
ticular meeting are: first, the time and place of meeting, 
with a copy of the call, if a special call has been issued; 
secondly, the devotional service with which a meeting is 
opened; thirdly, the name of the moderator; fourthly, the 
reading of past records and a statement of their approval 
by the church; fifthly, the business transacted, including 
reports of committees, unfinished business, and new busi- 
ness, and the incorporation of the full text of all resolutions 
or motions passed by the church; sixthly, a record of the 
time to which the meeting adjourns, if it adjourns to a 
given time; seventhly, the vote of adjournment; eighthly, 
the signature of the clerk. 

Unless the church by vote instructs otherwise, it is not 
necessary for the clerk to record motions that are made 
and not carried. Unless there is a yea and nay vote, the 
names of persons favoring or opposing a motion should 
not be recorded. It is not necessary, and it is not generally 
expedient, to record the names of persons making or read- 
ing motions, but when formal resolutions are adopted the 
name of the member or committee or board presenting them 
should be recorded. 

All motions should be written excepting those that are 
of so simple a character that the clerk can have no difficulty 
in understanding and recording them. 

Who Has a Right to the Church Records? The records 
of the church pertaining to finances are in the custody of 
the treasurer, who should report statedly to the church, 
and his reports should be incorporated into the records of 



142 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the church. All other records relating to the life of the 
church itself and not to any of its departments having its 
own recording officer are in the custody of the clerk. The 
clerk, the treasurer, and all other officers hold their re- 
spective records, subject to the authority of the church. 
Church clerks have been known unduly to magnify their 
office and to suppose that they had authority to refuse the 
pastor, deacons, or trustees the privilege of referring to 
the records. Church treasurers also, and with even more 
of peril to the welfare of the church, have sometimes 
assumed that the records of their financial transactions 
were subject to no supervision. Any officer of the church 
has a right to access to the records for any reasonable pur- 
pose, and the church may vote at any time requiring the 
clerk or treasurer to produce the records. This does not 
mean, however, that the clerk must loan the church books 
to all comers; on the contrary, he is responsible for the 
safekeeping of the church books. In an incorporated church 
any member has a legal right to examine the church records, 
under proper conditions. Persons demanding access to 
them should examine them at a suitable time and in a 
proper place, so that they may be guarded from loss or 
mutilation. 

May Church Officers Obliterate Church Records? 

Church officers have no authority to obliterate church rec- 
ords. If an action of the church is to be expunged from the 
records, it must be done by vote of the church and not by 
the act of any officers. 

What Should Be Done with Reports? Reports of com- 
mittees should not become a part of the records of meetings 
excepting in important matters where the church by vote 
desires to include the whole report as part of its proceed- 
ings. Where a report includes resolutions, the resolutions 
should become a part of the record of the meeting. Reports 
should be kept on file indefinitely unless the church votes 
to destroy. A safe place should be provided for old records 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 143 

and reports. Frequently these grow valuable in after years 
and are important sources of local history. 

How Are Votes Taken in Church Meetings? Ordinarily 
votes in church meetings are taken viva voce, or by show 
of hands. Apparently in the early church voting was by 
the uplifted hand. Where there is likely to be no difference 
of opinion, the simplest and easiest way of voting is viva 
voce. If the discussion indicates that there may be some 
differences of opinion, a show of hands is desirable. If the 
vote is close, the voters may be called upon to rise. If a 
vote has been ordered by acclamation, or by show of hands, 
and the moderator is in doubt, he may call for a rising vote 
before he declares whether the vote prevails or not. 

Are Proxy Votes Permitted? The question whether a 
vote by proxy is permissible in a Congregational church 
depends in part upon the laws of the state in which a 
church is incorporated and the laws of corporations per- 
mitting a proxy. If it is admissible it must be in strictly 
legal form, usually witnessed and sometimes before a 
notary. In general, it may be said that the system of gov- 
erning churches by proxy votes is not good Congregation- 
alism. The story freely told among lawyers, of the jury 
which was proceeding with eleven men, one member having 
gone away on business but having left his verdict with the 
foreman in advance, is an illustration of the point. A 
deliberative assembly, and especially a church assembly, is 
for the purpose of discussion, conference and a final decision 
in the light of all the combined wisdom of those present 
and voting. A proxy vote is an opinion registered before 
the voter has heard what the Holy Spirit may have to say 
through other minds than his own. No one Christian 
knows the whole mind of God on any question of church 
policy. It is, therefore, undesirable that questions be deter- 
mined by people who are so sure of their own opinion that 
they do not attend a meeting at which they may also hear 
the opinions of others. Due notice of a proposed action 
having been given and the rules of the church complied 



144 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

with, questions within the church should be decided by the 
qualified members present and voting. 

Is Irregular Action Invalid? Frequent question arises 
concerning the validity of action in cases of irregularity in 
church meetings. If action is taken without a quorum, or 
if the moderator puts only one side of the question, or if 
there has been a clear violation of some provision of the 
constitution, is the action valid or not? 

In any such case it is certainly irregular; but not every 
irregular action is invalid. If, for instance, the meeting 
lacked a quorum, but had been regularly called, and the 
question of a quorum was not raised at the time, and the 
minutes were later approved by the church, it would do 
little good to raise the issue a year later that a quorum was 
not present. At a meeting regularly called, a quorum is 
presumed to be present unless there is call for a quorum. 
If the moderator says "All who are in favor, say Aye; the 
motion is carried" and no one at the time objects to the 
fact that he did not put the negative to vote, and the record 
is made and approved, it will be difficult, if not wrong and 
impossible, to invalidate the action later, except by begin- 
ning anew, and considering the matter under a fresh 
motion. 

There are many actions which are irregular but not 
therefore invalid. Daniel Webster is said never to have 
been admitted to plead before the Supreme Court of the 
United States. It is said that the first time he came to 
plead a case the clerk rather thought he had already been 
admitted and was too much in awe of Webster to ask him, 
and after that no one felt like challenging him. It would 
be hard to reverse any decision of the Supreme Court at 
this day in one of the cases in which Daniel Webster was 
employed on the ground that he had no legal right to prac- 
tice in the Supreme Court of the United States. His ap- 
pearance there was irregular, but not invalid. 

Many men have been ordained to the ministry in our 
own and in other communions in whose ordination there 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 145 

were irregularities. Some irregularities are in their nature 
a sufficient ground for refusing to grant to these men min- 
isterial standing. But not every irregularity is in its nature 
of such character as to disqualify a minister. There is a 
distinction between irregularity and invalidity. 

May a Church Hold Secret Meetings? A church may 
and sometimes should hold meetings from which the public 
is excluded. If a church is dealing with a delicate matter 
of discipline it has a right to insist that reporters be not 
admitted. One faction of a church may not, however, hold 
meetings without public notice for the purpose of excluding 
another faction. If such meetings are held, they have only 
the status of caucuses. 

Must Every Member of a Church Be Informed of Every 
Meeting? The methods of informing members of special 
meetings are provided in local church rules. It is assumed 
that members either attend regular Sunday church services, 
or will inform themselves of important announcements 
made in their absence. Usually announcement from the 
pulpit is a sufficient notice. But it is well to give additional 
notice, either through a repeated announcement, or through 
the press, or by mail, of any meeting of extraordinary im- 
portance. 

Should Church Business Be Regarded as Confidential? 
The ordinary business of the church is public property and 
should be transacted openly and with no attempt at con- 
cealment; but when the church is dealing with matters 
affecting the reputation of any of its members, each mem- 
ber of the church should regard the affair as a family 
matter. The church is in no sense a secret society. Its 
members are bound by no oath to conceal any part of the 
business which it transacts, but the members are bound by 
the laws of Christian brotherhood and courtesy to seek the 
edification, purity, and peace of the church, and the welfare 
of its separate members. 

May the Church Eject an Intruder? If a church calls a 
meeting of its members and other persons are present, the 



146 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

moderator may invite them courteously to withdraw. 
Should they refuse to do so, they may be required to leave 
the room. Force is legally permissible if the intruders 
persist in their refusal to withdraw; but there is usually a 
more excellent way. 

May a Church Silence a Disturber? A church may 
silence a disturber of its meetings whether those meetings 
are held for business or worship. A person who discusses 
a motion must discuss it according to the rules of the church 
and parliamentary usage. A person who attends a religious 
service must treat that service with respect. If he fails to 
do so, he may be asked to withdraw, and if he refuses he 
may be forcibly ejected. 

Who May Expel a Disturber? The moderator of the 
meeting or the minister in charge of the religious service 
has authority to call upon an officer of the law, if one is 
present, to eject a disturber, or he may himself eject him, 
or call upon his church officers or ushers or other persons 
present to do so. Such persons should avoid the use of 
unnecessary force, but if the disturber suffers somewhat 
through the employment of force which he has brought 
upon himself, he cannot recover damages from the officer 
who ordered his removal. 

Right of an Assembly to Eject Any One from Its Place of 
Meeting. Every deliberative assembly has the right to decide who 
may be present during its session; and when the assembly, either 
by a rule or by a vote, decides that a certain person shall not 
remain in the room, it is the duty of the chairman to enforce the 
rule of order, using whatever force is necessary to eject the party. 
The chairman can detail members to remove the person, without 
calling upon the police. If, however, in enforcing the order, any 
one uses harsher measures than is necessary to remove the person, 
the courts have held that he, and he alone, is liable for damages, 
just the same as a policeman would be under similar circumstances. 
However badly the man may be abused while being removed from 
the room, neither the chairman nor the society is liable for 
damages, as, in ordering his removal, they did not exceed their 
legal rights.— Robert: Rules of Order, 1915, pp. 299-300. 

May Women Vote in the Business Affairs of the 
Church? Unless they are forbidden by the constitution of 
the church to vote, women are permitted to vote on equal 



THE CONDUCT OF CHURCH BUSINESS 147 

terms with men in Congregational churches. Dr. Dexter 
strongly contended against the wisdom of this provision, 
but the exercise of equal suffrage in Congregational 
churches is practically universal. 

May Minors Vote in Congregational Churches? It is 
customary for churches to fix an age below which members 
of the church are not permitted to vote. This age ordi- 
narily is 18, though sometimes churches permit members 
of 16 to vote. In any vote involving the sale of property, 
change of creed or other matters that might involve impor- 
tant legal or ecclesiastical dispute, if there is any division 
of sentiment in the church, the rule concerning minor mem- 
bers should be strictly enforced, and if there be no rule, 
members under the age of 21 should not vote in any such 
matters where their right to vote is challenged. In some 
states the statutes provide that members voting must be 
of legal age. 

May One Person Cast the Ballot of the Church? Fre- 
quently, where the constitution provides for a vote by bal- 
lot and there is no difference of opinion, a motion is made 
that the clerk cast a single ballot in favor of the resolution, 
or for the nominee. This motion is illegal, and should not 
be permitted, excepting where there is absolutely unani- 
mous consent. If one member objects to a motion of this 
character, the motion is out of order and the ballot must 
be had ; nor should such a member be looked upon as a 
disturber. Where the ballot is cast in this way, the record 
should read the same as if ballots had been distributed and 
a unanimous ballot cast in favor of the candidate elected. 
It is the privilege of any member of the church to object 
to such a motion. While the custom of authorizing one 
person to cast the ballot sometimes saves the time of a 
meeting, it defeats the intent of the ballot and is a custom 
more honored in the breach than in the observance. 

Have Absent Members the Right to Vote? The right 
to vote belongs only to active members of the church. 
Members who have long been absent and whose names are 



148 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

on the absent list have not the right to return for the mere 
purpose of voting at a meeting in which they have personal 
interest. Members residing in the community and failing 
to attend for a considerable length of time should be gov- 
erned by the rule of the local church in such matters, but if 
there be no rule and their names have not been placed upon 
an absent list they have a right to vote. 



IX. DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 

What Is a Church Member? A Congregational church 
member is a person who, having confessed his faith in 
Christ, has been received, on his own application and by 
vote of the church, into the local body of Christians with 
whom he chooses and by whom he is chosen to be asso- 
ciated. In such a company of brethren in fellowship in the 
spirit of Jesus Christ, all adult members have equal priv- 
ileges. 

Composed of Visible Members. And as to the gospel Church, 
it is plain that it was composed of none but visible saints. No 
other but baptized persons were admitted to communion; and no 
adult persons but such as professed repentance and faith were ad- 
mitted to baptism, which shows that they were visible saints. Of 
such materials was the church of Corinth composed; for the 
apostle speaks to them as saints by profession. — Emmons: Platform 
Eccl. Govt., i. 

Regenerate Membership. The visible Church of Christ should 
be composed only of such persons as give credible evidence of 
having in a godly way repented of their sins, believed unto salva- 
tion in the Lord Jesus Christ as their divine Saviour, and begun 
a life of allegiance to him as their King. The conviction that upon 
this principle alone can the constitution of the Church be duly and 
safely placed was distinctive, in their time, with the founders of 
our church order. — Ladd: Polity, p. 187. 

Admission into the church-kingdom requires a new birth, re- 
pentance, faith, righteousness. These are made conditions of ad- 
mission into the visible churches. On the day of Pentecost, when 
the Christian Church was recognized and inaugurated, repentance 
was required, and acceptance of the Gospel. — Ross: Church King- 
dom, p. 105. 

A Congregational church should consist of such persons and 
such only as give evidence that they have given themselves to 
trust and follow the Lord Jesus Christ and have been renewed by 
the Holy Spirit, who have confessed him as their Saviour and 
Lord and have covenanted to worship God and work together for 
the advancement of his kingdom in a church organized upon Con- 
gregational principles. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 74. 

Five Points. (1) Those constituting a Christian church must 
be believers, true followers of Jesus Christ; (2) they must live near 
enough together to meet statedly for worship, business, and labor; 
(3) there must be some recognition of one another as Christians, 
with the proper tests in life, belief, and discipline; (4) there must 
be some agreement to observe the ordinances of Christ together. 
This agreement is a covenant, whether written or understood, and 



150 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

constitutes the body a church; and (5) they must become one 
society; that is, one body, under the same officers, with one record, 
and doing as an organized unit whatever it does, in worship, busi- 
ness, and evangelization. Any such organization is a church of 
Jesus Christ, named after the place where it exists. — Ross: Church- 
Kingdom, pp. 170-171. 

What Is the Basis of Church Membership? The basis 
of church membership in a Congregational church should 
be credible evidence of Christian character, confession of 
Jesus as Savior and Lord, and the acceptance of a covenant 
to walk with the members of the church in Christian love 
according to its rules until regularly dismissed therefrom. 

The Individual Member. The social culture and social well- 
being of each local church are primarily dependent upon the char- 
acter of the individual members of which that church is composed. 
The followers of Christ do, indeed, fight in companies and in line 
of battle; but their success in warfare depends, nevertheless, upon 
the characteristics of the individual soldier. — Ladd: Principles of 
Church Polity, p. 99. 

"The Saint's Apology." The matter of this is a company of 
saints of whom . . . the church that admits them ought to 
judge of every one of them, that Christ has begun a good work in 
them, and will finish it. — Apology, xviii. 

The Low Country Exiles. Christ hath given power to receive 
in or cut off any member to the whole body together, in any Chris- 
tion congregation. — Confession xxiv, in Hansford, i, 95. 

A church has no more right to debar those who refuse to 
relate their Christian experience, than to require oaths and sub- 
scriptions and conformity to a thousand more ceremonies. — The 
Gospel Order Revived. 

Christian Fellowship. Now how marvelous a thing is it, and 
lamentable withal, that amongst Christians, any should be found 
so far at odds with Christian holiness as to think that others than 
apparently holy, at the least, deserved admittance into the fellow- 
ship of Christ's Church, and therewith of Christ! Do, or can, the 
gracious promises of God made to the Church, the heavenly bless- 
ings due to the Church, the seals of divine grace given to the 
Church, appertain to others than such? 

Both the Scriptures and common reason teach that whomso- 
ever the Lord doth call, and use to and in any special work or 
employment, he doth in a special manner separate and sanctify 
them thereunto. And so the Church, being to be employed in the 
special service of God, to the glory of his special love, and mercy 
in their happiness, and to show forth his virtues, must be of such 
persons, as, by and in whom, he will, and may thus be worshiped 
and glorified. — John Robinson: Works, iii, pp. 66, 127. 

May a Church Determine Its Own Terms of Member^ 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 151 

ship? Every voluntary organization has the indisputable 
right to determine the terms and conditions of its own 
membership in its own body. In so far as a local church is 
such a voluntary organization, it has this right. But a local 
church is part of the whole Church of Christ, and has no 
right to set itself above the Church, nor to call that common 
which God hath cleansed. There can be no greater heresy 
than that which makes a local church a mere club with a 
right to receive or reject members on arbitrary conditions 
of its own manufacture. A person who is a true member 
of the invisible Church of Christ ought to find a home in 
the visible Church. 

The theory that a church is a voluntary organization 
with right to make its own conditions of membership, was 
earnestly advocated by Dr. Nathaniel Emmons, who said : 

The members of a local church are competent judges to deter- 
mine who are worthy or unworthy to be admitted. It would be 
very irrational to suppose that any particular church is obliged to 
admit every one that offers to join their holy communion. They 
have an undoubted right to judge of the qualifications of propo- 
nents, and receive or reject them, according to an impartial judg- 
ment of Christian charity. This right they never ought to give 
up. — Platform Eccl. Govt., iii, 1. 

Dr. Leonard W. Bacon vehemently protested against 
this theory, and counted the churches formed on this model 
as virtual seceders from historic Congregationalism: 

Church vs. Club. A church, according to this "platform," is a 
club the members of which are bound to such mutual duties as 
they may have agreed upon. It is "essential" to the club, as "to 
every voluntary society, to admit whom they please into their 
number," and to rule out or blackball whom they please. This is 
the working basis on which the organization of the seceding 
churches of Eastern Massachusetts proceeded; and the principle 
which it illustrated, though not adopted in articulate form, pro- 
ceeding, nevertheless, from so influential a center as Boston, has 
had a wide and pernicious vogue in American church history. 
Secondly, there was the come-outerism commended by Dr. Em- 
mons as a "Scriptural Platform of Ecclesiastical Government," the 
"scripture" of which was most distinctly written in the Contrat 
Social of Jean Jacques Rousseau. It involved an unlimited "right 
of secession," and the right of the seceders to organize on an ex- 
clusive basis, keeping out such of their fellow-Christians as were 
uncongenial to them. This was the ideal under which the seceding 
Orthodox churches of Eastern Massachusetts had been organized 



152 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

into a wonderfully effective and aggressive dissenting sect. From 
this influential center it widely affected the Congregationalism of 
the whole country. Not only did the use of imposed and pre- 
scribed doctrinal tests (so abhorrent to the Fathers) come into 
general use; but the new churches were distinctly labeled "Trini- 
tarian" or "Calvinistic"; and it came to be considered quite laud- 
able, by stipulations in the covenant, to erect churches on an anti- 
slavery, or a total-abstinence, or a prohibitionist basis. The former 
method gave rise to Congregational churches, sometimes not osten- 
sibly bearing that denomination, and uniting in one fellowship such 
various elements as go to make up the Christian population of a 
new settlement. The latter constituted churches of Congregation- 
alists, in which each member was presumed to prefer a certain 
polity and type of dogma and usage of worship. — Bacon: Congre- 
gationalists, pp. 188, 189, 223, 224. 

Dr. Ladd replied to Upham, whose "Ratio Discipline" 
(P- 57) upheld the Emmons theory, as follows: 

Terms of Membership. No Christian church has any authority 
to constitute the terms of its own membership as a mere matter 
of natural or social right. Jesus Christ has constituted the terms 
of membership in churches called by his name; He has done this 
in the primal institution of his holy catholic Church. He has 
confirmed the law of this constitution by the practice of the apos- 
tolic churches. I must confess that it seems to me little better 
than a mild form of constructive treason to attempt changes in 
this constitution which the Lord has given to his Church. The 
methods by which the particular visible church arrives at judgment 
upon the credible proofs of true discipleship may indeed be adapted 
to the exigencies of the cases involved: the judgment of the church 
as to what constitute themselves credible proofs may indeed 
greatly change. But to maintain that a particular visible church 
may make requisitions upon men who would come into its com- 
munion, which are not involved in the New Testament requisitions, 
is a heresy under the formal principle of the true church polity. — 
Polity, p. 201. 

Many other Congregational authorities may be quoted 
to the same effect. The church is not a club, organized 
for the selfish ends of its membership, and entitled to reject 
whom it will. It is the Body of Christ, and to it belongs 
every true Christian who desires its fellowship. 

John Davenport's Theory. Though some are at present weak 
in faith, yet, if we may conceive that the Lord hath received them, 
the church must receive them. — Power of Congregational Churches, 
p. 42. 

Stillingfleet's View. What charter hath Christ given the church 
to bind men up to, more than himself hath done? or to exclude 
those from her society who may be admitted into heaven? — Terms 
of Communion, Preface. 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 153 

Bishop Taylor's Affirmation. Particular churches are bound to 
allow communion to all those that profess the same faith upon 
which the apostles did give communion. — Letter to John Goodwin. 

Robert Hall's Opinion. No man or set of men are entitled to 
prescribe as an indispensable condition of communion what the 
New Testament has not enjoined as a condition of salvation. It 
is presumptuous to aspire to greater purity and strictness in select- 
ing the materials of a church than are observed by its divine 
Founder.— Works, Vol. IV, p. 653. 

How Is Membership in the Church Secured? A person 
applying for membership in a local church should first 
appear before the church itself, or before its board of 
deacons, or advisory committee, or other body designated 
by the church, and after suitable examination if found to 
be worthy of membership should be approved by the exam- 
ining body, and, if that body be other than the church, 
recommended by that body to the church. In some of the 
older churches examination for membership was before the 
whole church. This commonly is not wise and is distinctly 
exceptional in Congregational usage. The member, having 
been approved by the examining committee, should be 
propounded from the pulpit for admission to the church, 
and accepted into membership by vote of the church. 
Usually the public reception is at a later meeting. 

In the absence of some specific rule, the following will 
serve as an orderly method: 

(i) The person to be received into membership con- 
fers with the pastor, who advises the applicant and encour- 
ages him to meet the church committee at a special time. 
The pastor should be faithful in inquiring whether the 
applicant is truly seeking to serve the Lord and gives evi- 
dence of a regenerated life. In all this he will be careful 
not to break the bruised reed or to set arbitrary or unrea- 
sonable tests. He will learn carefully to discriminate in 
determining what is reasonable to expect of childhood and 
of those of mature years in the acceptance of Christ and 
in membership in the church. If a person seems to him 
unqualified for present church membership, he will not 
rudely repel him or discourage him, but will seek most 



154 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

earnestly to encourage him and by added instruction and 
prayer will endeavor to bring him later into fuller knowl- 
edge and acceptance of the Christian life, and so into the 
fellowship of the church. 

(2) The applicant appears before the examining com- 
mittee. Sometimes applications are made in writing. 

It has often served to simplify the process of applying 
for church membership and to emphasize the essential 
things of the Christian life if the applicant signs in advance 
an application like the following, which may be printed 
upon a card: 

"Believing in the love of God our Father, and in the revelation 
of that love in Jesus Christ, we confess Him as our Lord; and, 
living together in the fellowship and service of the Spirit of God, 
will strive to know our duty as taught in the Scriptures, and to 
walk in the ways of the Lord, made known or to be made known 
to us; and, with loyalty to God, faith in Christ, and love for all 
mankind, will labor for righteousness which is profitable for the 
life that now is and has promise for the life everlasting." 

I heartily accept the confession and covenant above, and wish 
to unite with the church at the next communion. 

Name - 

Address _ - 

A card containing the brief confession of faith of the 
National Council has been employed similarly, and with 
good results. 

The committee will not fail to use great tact and Christ- 
ian sympathy as well as conscientious thoroughness in its 
examinations. It will not consider it any part of its duty 
needlessly to emphasize the religious duties or faults of 
the applicant further than to satisfy itself of the real ear- 
nestness and sincere Christian purpose of the person apply- 
ing. 

(3) The names of the persons who have been approved 
for church membership should be read from the pulpit by 
the pastor, at least one Sunday before that on which they 
are to be received. 

(4) The names that have been propounded are taken 
up usually at the preparatory service, though there is no 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 155 

valid reason why this should be the only time, and voted 
upon by the whole membership of the church present. It 
is in order for any member of the church to ask that the 
names be voted upon singly, and any five members may 
require a ballot, but unless there is a demand for a vote 
upon the names singly the full list may be voted upon viva 
voce. 

(5) On the following Sunday and usually just before 
the administration of the Lord's Supper, the persons who 
have been accepted for membership in the church come 
forward as their names are called, and assent to the cov- 
enant of the church, and receive the right hand of fellow- 
ship from the pastor. In some cases they are required to 
sign the covenant of the church, but this is not commonly 
enjoined. 

What Is the Propounding of Members? Persons who 
have been examined by the proper committee are publicly 
propounded from the pulpit a week or more before the time 
at which the vote is to be taken. This insures to the 
church proper protection, by enabling any member to object 
if the candidate is not suitable for membership. 

Propounding Candidates. The candidate's name is announced 
to the congregation, two weeks, or more, before the date of in- 
tended admission, so that if any person has complaint to make, 
affecting his Christian character, there may be seasonable oppor- 
tunity to lay it before the church. No such objection being made, 
the final question of his admission comes before the church, usually 
at the close of the next preparatory lecture, when a majority vote 
will admit him — which vote is, however, usually unanimous, be- 
cause if any member has any good ground of objection, it has been 
mentioned, and had its due weight beforehand. — Dexter: Congrega- 
tionalism, p. 183. 

May a Church Examine a Member Who Unites by 
Letter? A church may examine a member who proposes 
to unite by letter, but unless there is some reason for sus- 
picion, such examination is usually brief, and often is 
chiefly valuable as affording a proposed member and the 
church officers an opportunity of acquaintance with a view 
to Christian fellowship. 

Members Received by Letter. Richard Mather affirms that 



156 TH E LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

members uniting by letter should be examined; "for the former 
church may have erred in receiving them." — Ch. Gov. and Church 
Covenant, p. 30. Hooker (Survey, part iii, 7) says they may be 
received without it, if their praise is in all the churches; or the 
church may examine, and, if they are scandalous, should reject 
them. Winthrop shows that Cotton was thus examined when he 
was received to the church in Boston. — Journal, i, p. 110. Mitchell 
declares the right to examine, but says that it is not generally 
practised. — Christ. Doc, ii, pp. 202, 203. Milton says the covenant 
should be repeated, unless the church have ample testimonials from 
some other orthodox church. — Cummings: Cong. Diet., Art., Mem- 
bers. 

What Constitutes Examination for Membership? There 
is no inflexible rule as to what shall constitute examination 
for church membership. The church is entitled to satisfy 
itself, either by direct examination or by the recommenda- 
tion of its appointed officers, of the fitness of a candidate 
for church membership. It will often occur that a com- 
mittee will require little assurance beyond the testimony 
of the pastor. The only rules are those of good sense and 
Christian courtesy. 

Private Examination. In case any through excessive fear, or 
other infirmity, be unable to make their personal relation of their 
spiritual estate in public, it is sufficient that the elders, having 
received private satisfaction, make relation thereof in public before 
the church, they testifying their assents thereunto; this being the 
way that tendeth most to edification. But where persons are of 
greater abilities, there it is most expedient that they make their 
relations and confessions personally with their own mouth, as 
David professeth of himself. — Cambridge Platform, xii, 4. 

May a Church Receive a Member Without a Letter? 

It will sometimes occur that a person will propose to unite 
with a Congregational church from a denomination which 
refuses to grant letters except to churches of its own com- 
munion or to a restricted fellowship. In such a case, there 
should first be a courteous request for a letter. If this is 
refused, the church of which he is a member should be 
requested to terminate his membership with a view to his 
uniting with another church. If after this there is still 
refusal, he will be justified in uniting without a letter, and 
the church will be justified in receiving him. Notice should 
be sent to the former church, that it may adjust its relations 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 157 

to him in such manner as its sense of propriety shall deter- 
mine. 

Transfer of Church Membership. Increase Mather affirms that 
dismission and recommendation are scriptural and reasonable, and 
that "a church ought not to receive a member from another church, 
without endeavors of mutual satisfaction of the churches con- 
cerned." — Vindication, pp. 109, 113. Chauncy says: If, upon the 
use of all due means, the church will grant no dismission, the 
member refused may join another church. — Divine Inst. Cong. Ch., 
p. 121. Cotton Mather lays down a rule for a case which he says 
"perhaps never happened," in which a church refuse to receive a 
member where a council advise to it, viz., that he be received to 
some other church in the neighborhood. — Ratio Discipline, p. 161. 
Cleveland, in his "Narrative of the Conduct of the Fourth Church 
of Ipswich," quotes from "Watts's Foundation of a Christian 
Church": "If particular persons cannot agree with the major part, 
they may withdraw, if the church refuse to dismiss them; for Chris- 
tian churches must have all voluntary members, and are not to be 
turned into prisons." — Cummings: Cong. Diet. 

What Constitutes Christian Faith? Christian faith con- 
sists in an acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. 
It is not to be confused with an opinion about Him. Faith 
is an attitude of the heart and will; not a judgment of the 
intellect. 

From Cambridge Platform. The weakest measure of faith is 
to be accepted in those that desire to be admitted into the church, 
because weak Christians, if sincere, have the substance of that 
faith, repentance and holiness which is required in church mem- 
bers; and such have most need of the ordinances for their confir- 
mation and growth in grace. The Lord Jesus would not quench 
the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed, but gather the tender 
lambs in his arms and carry them gently in his bosom. Such 
charity and tenderness is to be used, as the weakest Christian, if 
sincere, may not be excluded nor discouraged. Severity of exam- 
ination is to be avoided. — xii, 3. 

Do Members from Other Churches Assent to the Cov- 
enant? All members, however received, assent to the cov- 
enant of the church. The form of admission of members 
commonly makes a distinction between those confessing 
Christ for the first time and those who have previously 
confessed Him and now are renewing their covenant, but 
in every case the covenant should be assented to by all 
new members. 

May Members Be Received in Their Absence? Mem- 



158 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

bers who are unable to be present in person may be received 
by special vote of the church. In the case of a mere tem- 
porary illness, the rule should not be set aside, but the 
member should be publicly received at the next communion 
season which he is able to attend. In the case of a person 
unable to be present at the communion service, the church 
may by vote receive the member at any other public service, 
or at the church prayer meeting. In case of an invalid 
unable to attend any of the services of the church, or in 
any emergency which in the mind of the church justifies 
such action, the pastor and deacons may be authorized by 
the church to receive the member into fellowship in the 
name of the church. Such a provision should be made in 
the rules of every church. In almost every community will 
be found some invalid who ought to become a member of 
the church, the circumstances of whose case must indicate 
the method appropriate for his or her reception. This pro- 
vision, however, should not be permitted to apply to people 
who through foolish self-consciousness or reluctance to 
make public confession wish to enter into the sheep-fold by 
some other way than the door. 

May a Church Refuse to Accept a Letter? If a church 
is offered a letter by a person whom it has reason to believe 
unworthy, it may refuse to receive the candidate. 

Richard Mather declared that those emigrants who were known 
to be godly are all admitted to some church on their own desire, 
unless they have given offense by their walk: in this case, they 
must give evidence of repentance. — Ch. Gov. and Ch. Cov., viii. 
Hooker held that if two or three witnesses show a recommended 
member to be scandalous, he should be rejected. — Survey, part i, 
241. 

What Are the Duties of a Member of the Church? It is 

the duty of every member of the church first of all to be 
faithful to the personal spiritual duties which are essential 
to the Christian life and to honor his profession by faithful 
living. It is his duty to make his own personal sanctifica- 
tion and his Christian usefulness the test by which to 
decide the character of his worldly business and his amuse- 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 159 

merits, abstaining from every choice and act which can im- 
pair his testimony as a Christian, and earnestly seeking 
by prayer, by daily word and deed, and by all that makes 
up the sum of his influence among men, to lead a life 
worthy of a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his 
further duty to attend habitually the services of the church 
of which he is a member, to give regularly for its support 
and its charities according to his ability, to share in such 
forms of its organized work as he is able to assist, and to 
labor for its purity, its peace, and its prosperity. It is his 
duty to refrain from needless criticism of the church, its 
services, its ministry, and his fellow-members ; to be guided 
in his speech and thought by the dictates of Christian love; 
to seek honestly and lovingly to promote the spirit of 
Christianity in his own heart and the hearts of all members 
of the church. It is his duty to remain in the church until 
he is regularly dismissed therefrom. If the time comes for 
him to unite with another church, he should on no account 
consider himself at liberty to take such a step until he has 
been dismissed in orderly fashion from the church of which 
he is a member. 

What Are the Rights of Church Members? Each mem- 
ber of a Congregational church has an equal right with all 
others to share in its public worship, to participate in its 
meetings for conference and prayer, to discuss proposed 
measures and changes in accordance with the rules of the 
church, to vote in the transaction of its business, and to 
participate in the election of its officers. All these rights 
he holds subject to the equal right of all his fellow mem- 
bers. Each adult member is eligible to any office in the 
church, the church having full authority to constitute one 
of its own members a trustee, a deacon or even a minister. 
The minister of the church, whether originally elected from 
its membership or called from another church to become 
its minister, should be a member of the church, received 
as other members are received, and his rights as such a 



160 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

member are rights in all essentials identical with those of 
his fellow members. 

Congregational churches hold to the right of private 
judgment. Each member in the church is sole custodian 
of his own conscience. He has the right to interpret the 
Scriptures, and to determine his own conduct in the light 
of that interpretation so long as his conduct does not in- 
fringe upon the rights of others or disturb the peace or 
impugn the good name of the church. He has a right to 
interpret the creed of the church broadly, as it is a purely 
human document, the product of human judgment. He 
has no right to treat it with contempt or assume that his 
judgment of it is superior to that of the men who made it 
and of those who accept it, but he has a right to interpret 
it liberally. It is not essential to Christian fellowship that 
all members of the church should think alike, or that the 
creed should be held in such complete uniformity of inter- 
pretation as to fetter the conscience of its members. If a 
member of the church finds himself no longer able to assent 
to the creed of the church in the hard and fast meaning of 
its words, he is not on that account to be deprived of his 
rights as a member, so long as he holds his differences of 
opinion in the spirit of Christian charity; nor need such a 
member hastily assume that he has no further right to be 
a member of the church, or that it is his inherent duty to 
leave it. He has the right to endeavor to induce the church 
to change its creed. If he fails in his endeavor he still has 
a right to consider whether his own change of faith is of 
such a character that he can no longer work and worship 
with the members in the spirit of Christian brotherhood. 
In considering the question whether it is his duty to with- 
draw from the church he should consult the covenant rather 
than the creed, and determine whether he is in essential 
harmony with its intent and spirit. If he elects to remain 
in the membership of the church, his brethren should not 
call that unclean or common which God hath cleansed. He 
on his part should remember that he has promised to seek 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 161 

the edification, purity, and peace of the church, and should 
hold his differences of opinion in a spirit of Christian love. 
What Is Good and Regular Standing? A member is in 
good and regular standing in a church so long as no charges 
are preferred against him. The term does not imply that 
he is perfect. Every member is presumed to be in good 
and regular standing until proved guilty of a misdemeanor. 
He cannot demand dismission with a certificate of his good 
and regular standing if any charge is pending against him ; 
but even while awaiting his trial he is presumed to be 
worthy of confidence, and may not be adjudged guilty until 
so proved. 

Good Standing of Church Members. A member is in good 
standing until the church by vote, after due notice and hearing, 
has deprived him of the privileges of membership, and upon his 
application is entitled to a letter of dismission and recommenda- 
tion in the regular form. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 75. 

How Are Members Dismissed? Members are dismissed 
to some other church by letter, granted by order of the 
church, on the request of the member. 

Dismission of Church Members. It is therefore the duty of 
church members, in such times and places where counsel may be 
had, to consult with the church whereof they are members about 
their removal, that accordingly they having their approbation, may 
be encouraged, or otherwise desist. They who are joined with 
consent, should not depart without consent, except forced there- 
unto. — Cambridge Platform, xiii, 2. 

When members remove their residence to the nearer neighbor- 
hood of a sister church, or when, for any good reason, it seems 
to them expedient to transfer their regular attendance to the min- 
istrations and worship of a sister church, they ought to ask, and 
the church ought to grant them, letters of dismission and recom- 
mendation. It is well that this request should be in writing. — 
Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 185. 

Forms of letters for use of churches in dismissing members 
may be found in the author's manual. 

To Whom May Church Letters Be Granted? Any 

member of a church, in good and regular standing, desiring 
by reason of removal or any other good reason to unite 
with another church, may be dismissed by letter addressed 
to the church which he desires to join, and on the accept- 
ance of said letter by the church addressed, his membership 



162 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ceases. It is customary to limit church letters to a period 
of six months, and in no case are they valid for more than 
a year. A church being offered a letter after the expiration 
of the time limit may at its discretion waive this condition. 

May a Church Member Terminate His Membership at 
Pleasure? Membership in a church is voluntary, and a 
church cannot permanently hold in its fellowship one who 
ceases to desire membership in it, but membership in a 
church is accepted in accordance with a definite covenant 
which must scrupulously be regarded in the termination 
of membership. The covenant is mutual; and a member 
does not cease to be a member by the mere serving of 
notice of his intention to withdraw, nor by uniting with 
another church without asking for a letter. He remains a 
member until regularly dismissed according to the rules 
and covenant of the church. 

What Shall a Church Do When a Member Unites with 
Another Church Without Taking His Letter? In such a 
case the church should remove the name from its roll with 
a note to the effect that he had already joined another 
church. Such acts are often committed thoughtlessly, but 
in some cases are the result of a discourtesy which cannot 
be called Christian in its spirit. 

Termination of Membership Without Permission. Isaac 
Chauncey said: A member may not depart to non-communion, or 
to the communion of another church, without the leave of the 
church of which he is a member. Such a deserter is a felo de se, 
and doth disfranchise and excommunicate himself. — Divine Inst. 
Cong. Chs., 116, 117. See Upham's Rat. Dis., 147; Punchard's View, 
173. 

May a Member Demit His Membership? A member of 
a Congregational church, against whose moral character 
there is no charge, who requests to be released from its 
membership for reasons which the church after careful 
conference with him may deem satisfactory — such as change 
in doctrinal views — may be released from membership at 
his own request. This was not the custom of the early 
Congregational churches, but has approved itself to our 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 163 

usage, and there are cases in which it appears to be the 
only just and wise way. In every such case, however, the 
church should first labor affectionately with the member 
and seek by Christian courtesy and brotherly interest to 
win him back again. 

Termination of Membership. If a member desires to join a 
religious body with which the church of which he is a member is 
not in fellowship, or which would not receive its letter, the church 
may, at his request, give him a certificate of his good standing 
and terminate his membership. 

If a member, against whose moral character there is no charge, 
requests to be released from his covenant obligations to the 
church, for reasons which the church may finally deem satisfac- 
tory, after it shall have patiently and kindly endeavored to secure 
his continuance in its fellowship, such request may be granted and 
his membership terminated. In these two cases this is the usage 
in the best churches today, though it was not that of the fathers. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 77. 

When May a Church Refuse to Grant a Letter? A 

church may refuse a letter to a member who is under dis- 
cipline or to one who is concerned in a recent scandal or 
misdemeanor and who applies for a letter to protect him- 
self from discipline. If a member ought to be expelled 
from the church and attempts to escape expulsion by re- 
questing a letter, the church should protect its own good 
name and protect other churches to whom the letter might 
be presented by refusing the request and summoning him 
to answer to the charge against him. If his offense is of 
long standing and well known, and the church has ignored 
it until he applies for a letter, but has permitted him to 
remain in good and regular standing even though he has 
been negligent and unfaithful to his duty, the church may 
not then refuse him a letter. It may refuse such letter, 
however, if the reason for its delay has been its charitable 
desire to bring him to an acknowledgement of his sin, and 
if that effort has failed to secure his repentance. 

Are General Letters to Be Granted? It is not orderly 
for a Congregational church to grant a letter addressed "To 
any church." The letter should be addressed to a particular 



164 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

church and notice should be sent to the pastor or clerk that 
the member has thus been dismissed to it. 

Dismissing Members to No Church. Nor can a church ismiss 
a member to "any church with which the Providence of God may 
cast his lot," or to no church. To do the former would be to put 
out of its own hands the question of its fellowship, and entrust to 
a single member the ability to compel it into practical fraternity 
with error from which it might shrink with dismay. To do the 
latter would be to pass an ex post facto law attempting to annul a 
covenant to which the church is one party, the member another, 
and the Great Head of the Church the chief. — Dexter: Handbook, 
p. 103. 

May There Be Dismission to Organizations Out of 
Fellowship? If a member of the church in good standing 
requests dismission to an unevangelical body, he should be 
labored with in love, and every right endeavor put forth to 
retain him in the fellowship of the church. But if he in- 
sists, he should not be thrust out harshly, or merely dropped 
from the roll. While a letter cannot be addressed to the 
unevangelical body, the member may be given a certificate 
that up to the time of his dismission he was a member in 
regular standing, and that his membership is terminated at 
his own request. The theory of Dr. Dexter, in the quota- 
tion below, is consistent, but few of our churches now hold 
rigidly to that practice. 

Dismissal to Churches Not in Fellowship. If a member should 
request dismission to some unevangelical body, it would become 
the duty of the church to attempt to dissuade him from such a 
course, and, if he persists, to make him a subject of discipline, in 
some form. No church can give letters to a body with which it is 
not in full and fraternal fellowship. Neither can a church dismiss 
to no church; that is, terminate a member's relation without cen- 
sure, and without transfer. — Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 187. 

Form for Dismission. A suitable form for dismission of such 
members will be found in Barton's Congregational Manual. 

May Church Members Be Dropped? The custom of 
"dropping from the roll" members who have long been 
absent or negligent, and who do not ask for, and perhaps 
do not desire letters, but whose lives are not such as 'to 
deserve expulsion, has come into such general use as to 
demand recognition and acceptance among us. But such 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 165 

usage is justified only after a church has exhausted all 
reasonable effort to trace the whereabouts of absentees and 
endeavor to provide letters to other churches. 

The habit of "dropping members" from the roll has been 
severely condemned by Dexter and nearly all authorities 
in our denomination, and on good logical grounds. Still 
the custom, as even Dexter admitted, is so convenient as 
almost to become a necessity in churches whose rolls have 
become cumbered with names of persons no longer known. 
Virtually the habit of dropping members is a very old one. 

Dropping Members. Of late a few churches calling themselves 
Congregational have introduced a standing rule new to Congrega- 
tionalism, by which, at the discretion of the body, members who 
have for a considerable time absented themselves from church 
communion, and who do not ask letters of dismission and com- 
mendation to other churches, instead of being dealt with as cov- 
enant-breakers and offenders, may be simply dropped from the 
roll. The propriety of such action has been the subject of sharp 
debate, more particularly in connection with a famous case where 
a member long time absent had circulated and promoted scandals 
derogatory to the Christian integrity of the pastor, and injurious 
to the reputation of the church, and the church had "dropped" him 
under circumstances in some minds giving color to the intimation 
that it was done in order to avoid what he might say in his 
defense were he to be proceeded with as an offender. The case 
came, indirectly, before one of the largest and most famous ec- 
clesiastical councils of modern times, which advised [The Brook- 
lyn Council of 1874, p. 232] that "the idea of membership in a 
Congregational church is the idea of a covenant between the indi- 
vidual member and the church"; that "voluntary absence does not 
dissolve that covenant, but is a reasonable ground of admonition, 
and, if persisted in, of final censure"; and should such an absentee 
be complained of as "having circulated and promoted scandal," 
etc., the "consideration that he has long ago forsaken the church, 
is only an aggravation of his alleged fault." 

It is not to be denied that there are cases — especially when 
large churches, after a considerable period of neglect, are going 
over their lists of members, to find perhaps dozens and scores who 
have somehow slipped out of sight until no man knows their where- 
abouts — when to "drop" them would be the most convenient way 
of disposing of the subject. — Dexter: Handbook, pp. 109, 110. 

A Member Departing to Non-Communion. He doth disfran- 
chise and excommunicate himself. If a member thus withdraw, 
the church ought to declare, that he, being sinfully departed from 
them, is no longer under its watch, and is not to return till he hath 
given satisfaction to the church. — Isaac Chauncey: Divine Institution 
of Cong. Churches, pp. 116, 117. 

It may sometimes come to pass that a church member, not 



166 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

otherwise scandalous, may fully withdraw. . . . He having cut 
himself off from that church's communion, the church may justly 
esteem and declare itself discharged from any further inspection 
over him. — Congregational Order, Gen. Assn. of Conn., 1843, pp. 
257-258. 

May Letters Be Granted Without Dismission? A 
member of a church contemplating prolonged absence and 
desiring to establish relations with Christians in other 
places may ask the church for a letter of recommendation 
without dismission. Such letters have the force of a vote 
of confidence and of Christian introduction. They may be 
granted by the pastor or the clerk of the church without 
especial votes of authorization, but a vote of the church is 
orderly and carries more weight. Such letters have become 
common in churches in the vicinity of colleges where young 
people desire to establish church relationship during the 
years of their college course without terminating their 
membership in the home church. Such letters are useful 
and the custom deserves to be more widely adopted. 

What Is the Status of Dismissed Members? Members 
who have been dismissed from a church remain members 
until their letters are accepted by the church to which they 
are dismissed. During the interval between the granting 
and the placing of their letters they remain members of 
the former church. They have no right to vote, but are 
subject to the rules of discipline. Should they be guilty 
of immorality their letter of recommendation may be can- 
celled, and fellowship withdrawn from them according to 
the regular rules of the church in matters of discipline. 

Remains a Member. Order requires that a member thus re- 
moving have letters testimonial, and of dismission from the church 
whereof he yet is, unto the church whereunto he desireth to be 
joined, lest the church should be deluded; that the church may 
receive him in faith, and not be corrupted by receiving deceivers 
and false brethren. Until the person dismissed be received into 
another church, he ceaseth not by his letters of dismission to be 
a member of the church whereof he was. The church cannot 
make a member no member, but by excommunication. — Cambridge 
Platform, xiii, 7. 

May Dismissed Members Vote? The principle here set 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 167 

forth that members who have been dismissed but have not 
deposited their letters with other churches have no right 
to vote, is one that cannot be too strongly insisted upon. 
Although this is a point that has usually been overlooked 
by our authorities on church polity, it is a matter implied 
in the writings of most of them, and is the only possible 
position consistent with good sense. That a member 
should demand his letter, and having received it should 
remain in its meetings and vote, is wholly unreasonable 
and contrary to good order. For this reason we cannot 
accept the implication of Dr. Dexter that a dismissed mem- 
ber might be permitted to vote if there were no special rule. 
No such rule is necessary. 

Dr. Dexter said: All dismissed members remain members in 
full of the dismissing church until they have actually been received 
by the church to which their relation is to be transferred; although 
some churches, by special rule, deprive such members of the right 
to vote except on surrender of the letter. — Handbook, p. 104. 

Voting Members. Members in good standing, to whom the 
church has not voted letters of dismission, who are twenty-one 
years of age, or of the age prescribed by the state, and such only, 
may vote in the meetings of the church for business. — Boynton: 
Congregational Way, p. 75. 

What Is the Status of a Member Who Partly With- 
draws? It sometimes occurs that a member, in order to 
force or frustrate a certain action by the church, makes a 
conditional withdrawal from its membership, and perplex- 
ing questions have sometimes risen as to whether he is or 
is not still a member of the church. His status depends 
on the form of his own demand and on the action of the 
church. If he says: "If the church takes this proposed 
action I will withdraw/' and the church does nevertheless 
take the proposed action, his threat does not end his mem- 
bership, or even authorize the church to dismiss him. It 
is due him to treat his threat as a case of pique, and to 
hope that he will come to a different frame of mind. If he 
says: "If the church takes this action, it may consider this 
my request for dismission to the Methodist Church in this 
village," the church will be justified in following its action 



168 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

by voting him his letter ; but it will be better not to do so 
until he renews the request. If, however, the brother is a 
chronic resigner, habitually attempting to carry his will by 
threats of leaving the church, it may be well to take advan- 
tage of the first real application, and give him leave to de- 
part in peace. 

Should Letters Be Asked or Granted to Churches Which 
Will Not Receive Them? A member of a Congregational 
church desiring to withdraw to unite with an Episcopal or 
other church which will not receive letters from Congrega- 
tional churches, should nevertheless in every case secure 
an orderly dismission from the Congregational church be- 
fore uniting with the other. In case he fails to do it he is a 
proper subject of discipline, and his name should be dropped 
from the roll. 

Churches should grant such letters in regular form. We 
cannot afford to measure our Christian courtesy by the 
possible discourtesy of others. 

The records of the Old South Church in Boston inform 
us fully of the case of one Roger Jud, who in October, 
1698, "was resolved to desert this church on account of 
some disgust taken." He went straight to the new Episco- 
pal Church, without asking for a letter. The pastor of the 
Old South, Dr. Willard, sought to learn his grievance, and 
being treated with contempt, sought at least to have him 
go forth in an orderly way. But Jud, "having declared his 
renouncing communion with this church and accordingly 
deserted it, he refused to give account of it, when orderly 
called to it, and declared that he neither counted himself 
subject to the minister nor the church." His only word, 
given to Judge Samuel Sewall, was, "that now 'twas his 
conscience to go to the Church of England." But his con- 
science did not suggest to him that he should avail himself 
of the orderly method provided for dismission in the cov- 
enant which he had accepted on joining the Old South. 
Dr. Willard thus recorded the censure passed upon him: 
"The matter of his offense is not his going off from this 



DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF CHURCH MEMBERS 169 

church; for wee acknowledge there is a lawfulness to do 
so, provided it bee orderly; but the manner of it." And, 
as he had refused to permit the church to dismiss him in a 
brotherly way, there remained for them the alternative of 
excommunicating him, which reluctantly they did, "till God 
shall give him repentance." 

We could wish this first had also been the last instance 
of a Congregationalist going to the Episcopal or other 
church, in violation of his covenant agreement, without 
asking for a letter of dismission. Such action is needless 
and unchristian discourtesy, both on the part of the depart- 
ing member and of the receiving church. Such church 
should refuse to receive members from other churches till 
they have terminated their relations with the bodies to 
which they belong. So long as a church stands ready to 
dismiss with brotherly love and in an orderly manner mem- 
bers desiring admission to other churches, no other church, 
whether it uses the letter or not, has a right to accept a 
member coming from such a church without his having 
applied for such a letter. His leaving in such manner is 
a violation of his covenant, in which he agrees to submit 
to the authority of the church until regularly dismissed 
therefrom. And a covenant breaker is not a fit person to 
be received into another church, nor should another church 
encourage the breaking of covenants. 

What Is the Duty of a Church to Its Absent Members? 
Members of the church who have been absent for a period 
of years should be placed on a separate list from that of 
the active members. They should be encouraged to take 
letters to churches in their neighborhood and to relieve 
their home church from the burden of carrying a large 
number of absentees upon its list. 

If such members continue to be absent for years, their 
names may properly be placed upon a suspended list and 
dropped entirely from the church roll. It sometimes hap- 
pens, however, that people who have been absent for a long 
time at length appear and present requests for their letters. 



170 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Such requests may be granted in a form essentially as 
follows : 

"This is to certify that Mr. A. B. became a member of this 

church on , 19 , and that his name continued upon 

its roll of members until , 19 , when, having moved 

from this community without asking for letters of dismission, his 
name was removed from our roll of members in accordance with 
the custom of the church. The church will be glad to know of 
his membership in some other Christian body." 

Shall a Church Receive Members Who Cannot Assent 
to Its Creed? Congregationalism does not accept the prin- 
ciple of creed subscription as a condition of church mem- 
bership. If the church creed is employed in the examina- 
tion of candidates for church membership, it should be with 
the purpose of assisting them in the expression of their 
own faith and by no means as a test of their fitness to be- 
come members. No Congregational church has a moral 
right to make a creed for the purpose of keeping Christian 
people out. If a candidate for membership is a Christian 
he belongs in the church. 

Subscription to a Creed Not Required for Membership. Nor 
is it consistent with Congregational principles for a particular 
church to draw up a creed and to require its acceptance by candi- 
dates for membership. A Christian church is not a private society, 
whose regulations can be modified by its members at their pleas- 
ure, but a society founded by Christ himself, and intended by Him 
to be the home of all Christians. Nothing, therefore, should be 
required of an applicant for membership but personal faith in 
Christ; this may exist, and there may be decisive evidence of its 
existence, in persons who have no clear intellectual apprehension 
of many of the great truths of the Christian gospel; it may exist, 
and there may be decisive evidence of its existence, in persons by 
whom some of these truths are rejected. Men come into the 
church, not because they have already mastered the contents of the 
Christian revelation, but to be taught them. — Dale: Cong. Manual, 
p. 186. 

Nor yet can a church dominate the faith or conscience of its 
members. With such personal religious liberty no man, or com- 
bination of men, has a right to interfere. For such liberty and its 
lawful exercise each one is responsible to God alone. The church's 
authority goes not so far. — Hiscox: Baptist Directory, p. SO. 

The same conception of the Church that requires that only 
those who believe in Christ should be admitted into a Christian 
church requires that none who believe in Him should be refused 
admission. — Dale: Cong. Manual, p. 49. 



X. THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 

What Are the Officers of the Church? The essential 
officers of a church are those which enable it to perform its 
spiritual work in an orderly and effective fashion. As in 
the New Testament times, so now, church officers are of 
two groups, ministerial and lay. In the New Testament, 
as we have already seen, the officers were pastors and 
deacons, the pastors being called also presbyters, that is, 
elders and bishops. The laymen elected to perform special 
services in connection with the care of the poor and the 
assistance of the ministry were called deacons. These are 
the essential officers of the church. Even in the New 
Testament time it is apparent that church organization was 
something of specialization. Ministers were not merely 
pastors of local churches, they became also evangelists and 
itinerant apostles. Likewise also, at a very early time, the 
offices held by laymen manifested some of the effects of 
specialization. This principle is clearly recognized by Paul 
in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. The 
development of church life in more recent times has called 
for still further specialization. The work of the ministry is 
now much wider than the local pastorate, involving admin- 
istrative, secretarial, editorial and educational functions. The 
offices held by laymen also have increased in number and 
have widened the sphere of their activity. In addition to 
deacons, who formerly had charge of the secular interests 
of the church, there now are commonly trustees, who have 
more direct responsibility for the custody of the church's 
property and financial interests, while the deacons care for 
those matters more closely related to the work of the min- 
istry. In some denominations the deacon is a candidate 
for the ministry, so that the diaconate has become a clerical 
instead of a lay office. This, however, was not the original 
intent; nor is it the method employed in Congregational 
churches. 



172 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Officers Not Absolutely Necessary. A church being a company 
of people combined together by covenant for the worship of God, 
it appeareth thereby, that there may be the essence and being of 
a church without any officers, seeing there is both the form and 
matter of a church; which is implied when it is said, the apostles 
ordained elders in every church. 

Nevertheless, though officers be not absolutely necessary to 
the simple being of churches, when they be called, yet ordinarily 
to their calling they are, and to their well being; and therefore 
the Lord Jesus, out of his tender compassion, hath appointed and 
ordained officers, which he would not have done, if they had not 
been useful and needful for the church. — Cambridge Platform, vi, 1. 

Officers Should Be Guides. Church officers are also more than 
servants; they are the chosen guides of the churches electing them. 
They are to see to it, each officer in his place, that the church they 
serve shall be trained and guided thoroughly in every function for 
the duties and labors required of it as a church of Christ. The 
pastor, as being the leader, or chief, or shepherd, by patience, 
loving suggestion, example, instruction, should secure the prompt 
and complete performance of every organic function, that his 
church may be thoroughly equipped, and active in every good 
work; so trained that every service and duty will go on regularly 
if the pastor be absent. Hence, though a pastor may in a noble 
sense be all things to all men, if by any means he may save some 
(I Cor. 9:20-23), yet he can not wisely be all the officers in a 
church. Nothing is more destructive of organic life and power 
than such dependence on the pastor, unless it be an unquestioning 
devotion to him. The first duty of the pastor is the development 
of the organic life of a church, so that it shall not be a congrega- 
tion merely, but a trained band of workers, able to stand alone 
and carry on its functions and labors for a season as a church. — 
Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 191. 

What Are the Duties of the Pastor? The duties of the 
pastor are considered at length in a separate chapter. In 
the modern church they are fourfold. He is preacher, 
teacher, pastor and administrator. These duties vary 
according to the conditions of the local church, but they 
combine in some degree all these functions. It is safe to 
say that no man is equally effective in each of these four 
relations. It is also safe to affirm that a minister may not 
properly neglect any of them. 

The Ministry a Rank of Service. Looking at the ministry in 
the modern specific sense, it is nothing less and can be nothing 
more than a rank of service. One is qualified for it by gifts, by 
training, by experience; these, on the Christian doctrine of the 
Spirit, constitute his inward call. But he enters it only through 
the call of some Christian company, itself presumptively an act in 
which Christ's Spirit was concerned. Imposition of hands is the 



THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 173 

recognition of this double call, the solemn setting apart of the 
man chosen by a particular church to be its spiritual shepherd and 
administrative head. This act confers on him no gifts he did not 
have before. It gives him no priestly rights of his own. It is 
simply the formal transference to him of the priestly functions of 
the church, such as the administration of baptism and the Lord's 
Supper (we might add marriage and burial). — Heermance: Democ- 
racy of the Church, pp. 142-143. 

What Is a Deacon? A deacon is a layman, elected by 
a local church, to advise the pastor, to assist in the admin- 
istration of the ordinances of the church, and to represent 
the church in the care of the poor and in the oversight of 
its discipline. The deacons of the church constitute ex 
officiis its committee on discipline, unless other provision 
is made for this branch of the work by the order of the 
church. The deacons share with the pastor responsibility 
for the religious services, particularly those of fellowship 
and prayer. They are his most intimate advisers, and 
should be his heartiest and most sympathetic supporters. 
In some churches deacons are elected for life; but in most 
churches the term of service is defined by the rules of the 
church. 

How the New Testament deacons were chosen is indi- 
cated in Acts 6: 1-6. A sharp distinction is drawn between 
their duties and those of the ministry. Their appointment 
grew out of complaints that certain of the poor were ne- 
glected, particularly among the Gentile converts, and it is 
evident that these Gentile converts were represented 
among the seven deacons who were chosen. Two of these 
deacons, Stephen and Phillip, became evangelists, and this 
fact has served as a pretext for making the diaconate a 
subordinate order of the ministry. This, however, is un- 
warranted in the Scriptures. While a deacon may become 
a minister, and many deacons have done so, there is no 
indication in the New Testament that the diaconate was 
planned as a vestibule to the ministry, much less that it 
was intended to be a subordinate rank in the ministry 
itself. 

The first deacons were chosen to attend to secular mat- 



174 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ters, particularly the distribution of alms. At that time it 
was. not necessary to consider the care of real estate, for 
none of the churches had buildings of their own. The care 
of church property now calls for still more diversified organ- 
ization, and many of the business affairs of the church are 
cared for by the trustees. The care of the poor, however, 
still remains the peculiar province of the deacons. For the 
rest, the larger responsibilities of the modern deacon are 
with the spiritual interests of the church. 

The office of deacon ought to be held in great honor. 
It is the highest office in the church, excepting only that 
of the ministry itself. The title deacon ought to stand in 
popular thought, not as a term of ridicule or cheap merri- 
ment, but as one wherein the church expresses in a high 
degree its confidence in the character and efficiency of its 
own laity. 

Duties of Deacons. The office of a deacon is instituted in the 
church by the Lord Jesus; sometimes they are called helps. The 
Scripture telleth us how they should be qualified, "Grave, not 
double tongued, not given to much wine, not given to filthy lucre." 
They must first be proved, and then use the office of a deacon, 
being found blameless. The office and work of the deacon is to 
receive the offerings of the church, gifts given to the church, and 
to keep the treasury of the church, and therewith to serve the 
tables which the church is to provide for; as the Lord's table, the 
table of the ministers, and of such as are in necessity, to whom 
they are to distribute in simplicity. — Cambridge Platform, vii, 3. 

Term of Office of Deacons. It was formerly the custom to 
elect deacons for life, as indeed was the case with the minister. 
Those were the days when all men expected to remain in the same 
place for life, the lawyer, the merchant and the blacksmith, as well 
as the church officials. In our day, the deacons are generally 
elected for a term of years, usually so that only one vacancy may 
occur each year; or two, if the number of deacons be large. In 
many churches it is the rule that after one full term of service a 
deacon shall not be eligible for re-election until one year has 
passed. This leaves the church free to select, delivers it from the 
necessity of reappointing one who has not proved himself to be 
a valuable officer, enables it to drop one on the expiration of his 
term of office whom it would not choose if free to select, without 
casting slight on him, and develops material for such service from 
the younger men and the newcomers. Ordination to this office 
was once the general usage, but with the lapse of the life tenure 
has largely gone into disuse. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 55. 



THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 175 

What Is the Office of the Deacon? To receive the offerings of 
the church, which are brought unto them, and laid down before 
them, and therewith to serve tables, to distribute with simplicity, 
not only to the ministers of the church, but to any other of the 
brethren, as they shall have use or need (Acts 6:3, 6; Rom. 12:8; 
I Tim. 5: 17, 18; Acts 4:35; I Cor. 16). 

But is it not also the deacon's office to show mercy with cheer- 
fulness? Yes, verily, to their brethren in misery; but that part of 
their office, they cheerfully perform by the hand of the widows, 
which are chosen into their number, who are therefore called dea- 
conesses or servants of the church (Rom. 12:8; Micah 7:18). — 
Questions and Answers Upon Church Government by John Cotton, 
1634. From Manuscript of Henry M. Dexter, Yale University 
Library. 

What Is a Deaconess? In the New Testament churches 
certain women were elected to offices. There were deacon- 
esses as well as deacons, and there appears also to have 
been an order of "widows," composed of women who no 
longer had home ties, and who, being of mature age and 
Christian experience, were set apart for special service, 
particularly in the instruction of the younger women of the 
church. Any church is at liberty to provide for the election 
of deaconesses out of its own membership. These may or 
may not serve on the board of deacons with advice and 
counsel. In churches where deaconesses are elected it is 
not customary for them to serve in the administration of 
the ordinances, but only to sit in council with the deacons 
and to share their work in the gentler offices of discipline 
and in the effective relief of the poor. In some churches 
where no deaconesses are elected, it is customary to elect 
a Prudential Committee, of which part of the members 
are women. Often the pastor's wife is a member ex officio 
of this committee. 

More recently there has risen among us a new interpre- 
tation of the office of deaconess, as that of a woman trained 
as a church visitor or pastor's assistant, not necessarily 
elected from the membership of the local church, but em- 
ployed as a salaried agent of the church. This office has 
justified itself in practice, and the status of a deaconess is 
that of a salaried worker, whose term of service and the 



176 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

definition of whose duties are to be determined by the local 
church. 

The title deaconess appears after some experiment not to 
be a popular one in Congregationalism. The increasing 
number of young women who are entering the service of 
our churches as salaried workers wear no distinctive garb, 
and appear to desire not to be confused with women in 
other denominations who are designated by that term. At 
the National Council of 1915 a national organization of 
women serving the churches in the capacities of pastor's 
assistants, directors of education and of young people's 
work, secretarial assistants and parish visitors, and the 
general name of "church assistants" was chosen to cover 
all these groups of workers. 

A deaconess is not necessarily the wife of a deacon. 
This matter was discussed in early New England, and of it 
Cotton Mather said: 

'Tis often inquired, when deacons are chosen, whether their 
wives are such as directed; but there is a mistake about the mean- 
ing of the text in I Tim. 3:11. It is gunaikes, women, i. e., the 
deaconesses or widows; and there is not there one word about 
deacons' wives any more than the pastors'. — Rat. Dis., 131. 

What Manner of Widows Hath God Allowed to Be Chosen Into 
This Number? Ancient women, of sixty years of age, well reported 
of for good works, for nursing their children, lodging strangers, 
washing the saints' feet, for relieving the afflicted, and following 
diligently every good work (I Tim. 5:9, 10; Rom. 6). — Questions 
and Answers Upon Church Government by John Cotton, 1634. 
From Manuscript of Henry M. Dexter, Yale University Library. 

Deacons and Deaconesses. To the Deacons office we would 
adde Deaconesses, where such may be had, according to which 
should be widows of the Church, faithfull, approved, and full of 
good works, who give themselves to works of mercy cheerfully; 
and to be serviceable also to those that are sick, when the Deacon 
so conveniently cannot, and sometime so modestly may not send 
their help as that sex may. — T. Welde: A Brief Narration of the 
Practices of the Churches in New England, London, 1645. 

Should Deacons Be Installed? The custom of our 
churches varies. Many churches install their deacons, and 
it is altogether fitting that this should be done. 

Forms for the Installation of Deacons will be found in Barton's 
Congregational Manual, pp. 224-225. 



THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 177 

Should Other Officers Be Installed? It is proper that 
the church should install its officers other than deacons if 
it sees fit so to do. 

A convenient form for the installation of officers other than 
deacons will be found in Barton's Congregational Manual, p. 225. 

What Are the Duties of the Clerk? It is the duty of a 
church clerk to record faithfully all business transacted by 
the church, to keep a careful list of its members, together 
with dates of their admission, the form of their reception, 
whether by confession or by letter, and if by letter, from 
what church, and the manner and date of their dismission. 
It is his duty also to record all baptisms, both infant and 
adult, all deaths and marriages, and other important events 
in the life of the church and of its members. It is his duty 
to issue credentials to all delegates who are elected to rep- 
resent the church, and to certify such accounts as may be 
required by him. He should keep the records of the church 
in his custody, being careful to protect them from fire or 
other loss, should hold them at all times subject to the 
inspection of the pastor or the officers of the church, and 
render an annual report to the church of the performance 
of all his duties. 

The Clerk a Custodian for the Church. In like manner, the 
clerk can not withhold papers, documents, or records belonging 
to the church, or correspondence as clerk, on the plea that they 
are private property, but must, instead, as the servant of the 
church, produce them when required. He is only custodian for 
the church. Church officers are the servants of the churches that 
elect them, and they that serve best are the greatest. — Ross: 
Church-Kingdom, p. 191. 

What Is the Duty of the Treasurer? The church treas- 
urer should receive and hold all moneys of the church and 
its benevolences. He should keep them separate from all 
moneys of his own, depositing them in some secure bank 
in the name of the church, and drawing upon them only in 
accordance with the vote of the church or of its authorized 
officers. He should render to the church at stated intervals 
and whenever required, full written reports showing the 



178 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

receipt and disposition of all funds submitted to him. These 
reports should be duly audited, and when approved by the 
church should be deposited with the clerk. 

Fidelity of Treasurers. On January 1st the Episcopal Church 
begins the year with the certainty of a few thousand dollars, the 
income from endowments, and although it has no legal power to 
collect another dollar, the church closes its accounts twelve months 
later with some $20,000,000 to $30,000,000 contributed and paid 
out. That sum has come into the different treasuries in perhaps a 
hundred million items. It has been counted, handled, and ex- 
pended by some twenty thousand treasurers, collectors and other 
agents, most of whom have had no education in financial adminis- 
tration, and little experience in accounts. Imperfect as is the ad- 
ministration, the marvel is that the work on the whole is so well 
done, for we must remember that practically the whole work is 
done as a labor of love and loyalty without salary or other com- 
pensation. — Bishop William Lawrence, quoted in the Journal of Ac- 
countancy, April, 1915. 

What Is the Duty of the Trustees? The trustees of the 
church should attend to its business interests according to 
their powers as prescribed by the rules of the church. They 
should care for the church property and keep it in repair; 
they should be diligent in maintaining the church finances 
upon a basis of dignity and prosperity. They are the 
custodians of the church property in all matters other than 
those that are distinctly religious. They have no authority 
to forbid the use of the church building to the pastor or 
deacons for any spiritual use, and in any question of the 
use of the building for social, literary or other purpose not 
distinctly religious, the authority of the trustees is subject 
to the will of the church. The trustees should always 
regard the secular life of the church as subordinate to its 
religious life, and should carefully avoid any importing of 
the financial affairs of the organization into its spiritual 
concerns in such a way as to work disadvantageously to 
the spiritual interests of the organization. While they 
should conduct the business affairs of the church in a busi- 
nesslike manner, paying its bills promptly and carefully 
keeping its credit above reproach, they should with equal 
care avoid bringing into the temple of God the atmosphere 



THE OFFICERS OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 179 

of the market, and making the house of. prayer a den of 
thieves or a babel of business. 

May a Church Vacate an Office? A church rarely de- 
clares an office vacant, and yet has an undoubted right to 
do so for good cause. Such a proceeding would have vir- 
tually the effect of a suspension of the rules, and should 
be possible by no smaller majority than would be required 
for such suspension. If the office is one that is filled by 
ballot, the vote to vacate should also be taken by ballot. 

The vacating of an office is a very unusual act, and 
ought to be discouraged. An officer elected for a definite 
term should be permitted to serve out his term in all but 
the most extreme cases. We cannot accept the statement 
of Dexter that the removal of an officer who has been elected 
for a definite term can be accomplished by a majority vote. 
Such a vote would be a virtual suspension of a rule, i. e., 
the rule governing the term of an election, and must require 
not less than a two-thirds vote. 

How to Vacate Church Offices. The simple principle governing 
this is that the power which sets up is always competent to set 
down; so that whenever the church which has elected a member 
to an office because it thought him most suitable for that honor 
and that duty, sees reason to change its mind, and becomes con- 
vinced that the best interests of the cause of Christ require another 
arrangement, it has as much — and the same — power to bring about 
that change, as it had to produce the condition of things that now 
is. Whenever, then, it comes to be felt by the majority of a 
church that its best interests demand the removal of any person 
whom it has placed in any position of official power and responsi- 
bility, it should pass a vote kindly and clearly stating that fact, 
and requesting that person to resign. If this prove ineffectual it 
should next — in all cases except where the pastorate is con- 
cerned — pass a second vote removing the party from his office; 
which office, thus vacated, it may then proceed to fill. Such a vote 
is not necessarily, even impliedly, a censure upon the Christian — 
but only upon the official — character of the party (whether com- 
mittee-man or deacon) removed; and therefore he cannot effectu- 
ally object against it that it is a covert attempt to discipline him 
in an unscriptural manner. — Dexter: Handbook, p. 112. 

Power of Church to Dismiss Its Officers. And if the church 
have power to choose their officers and ministers, then in case of 
manifest unworthiness and delinquency, they have power also to 
depose them: for to open and shut, to choose and refuse, to consti- 
tute in office and remove from office, are acts belonging to the 
same power. — Cambridge Platform, vii, 7. 



180 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

If every church be formed by confederation and has an inde- 
pendent right to exercise all ecclesiastical power, then they have 
a right to dismiss their own minister, whenever they judge he has 
forfeited his ministerial character. As the church have a right to 
choose and ordain their own minister, so they must have, of 
course, a right to dismiss him for what they deem good reasons. 
Those who have a right to put into office, have a right to put out 
of office. — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt., Inference I. 

Were the New Testament Deacons Candidates for the 
Ministry? From the fact that Stephen and Philip became 
evangelists, it has sometimes been inferred that the New 
Testament diaconate was a condition of candidacy for the 
ministry. The inference is not justified. That some dea- 
cons entered the ministry was to have been expected, and 
it is to be hoped that always there will be deacons who 
preach, either as ministers or as laymen ; but the office of a 
deacon is not in itself a step toward the ministry. 

Some further support to the idea has been found in I 
Timothy 3:8; but this inference is not warranted, as is 
conceded by scholars even in the communions where the 
diaconate is regarded as a lower order of the ministry. 

Promotion of Deacons. The last verse, I Tim. 3: 13, has been 

often understood to say that excellent discharge of the duties of 
a deacon would rightly entitle him to promotion to a higher kind 
of work, doubtless that of an elder. "Standing" undeniably means 
a step, and so might easily be used for a grade of dignity or func- 
tion. But the rest of the verse renders this interpretation unnat- 
ural; and the true sense doubtless is that deacons by excellent dis- 
charge of their duties may win for themselves an excellent vantage 
ground, a standing a little as it were above the common level, 
enabling them to exercise an influence and moral authority to 
which their work as such could not entitle them. — Hort: The Chris- 
tian Ecclesia, pp. 201-202. 



XL RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 

What Is a Religious Corporation? A religious corpora- 
tion is a society, not for pecuniary profit, organized for 
religious purposes and incorporated by law. Religious cor- 
porations differ in their legal status in the several states 
of the Union. In general, however, the laws favor their 
organization, and their legal status is simple. In some 
states the life of any one corporation is limited to a term 
of years. In some there is a limitation of the amount of 
property which any one corporation can hold. There is 
limitation also upon the forms in which such property may 
be held. As a general principle of law perpetuities are not 
regarded with favor. The essential differences between a 
corporation and an individual are: first, the impersonality 
of the corporation. It is not an individual, but an artificial 
person. As such it is a creature of the law and strictly 
speaking has no rights which the law is bound to respect. 
Certain rights which belong to individuals do not apply to 
corporations. The second characteristic of a corporation 
is its continuity. Men die, and their estates and other 
interests pass to other hands, but corporations may go on 
forever. The laws of the Middle Ages recognized grave 
dangers as inherent in such a system, and the English laws 
of mortmain were intended as a check upon the growth of 
corporate bodies, many of which were religious in charac- 
ter. At the present time the growth of large commercial 
corporations is seen to involve possibilities of national 
peril. Past history has afforded illustrations of the peril 
which may, and sometimes does, inhere in religious corpo- 
rations. For reasons that in general have been good, the 
laws of various states and countries have imposed certain 
restrictions upon religious corporations. Some of these 
actions have been arbitrary, and not all of them have been 
just, but there has been a reason for some even of the more 
arbitrary acts. 



182 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

There is another characteristic of the religious corpora- 
tion which should be noted. While it can sue and be sued 
in law, its appearance in court must be through a repre- 
sentative. If a secular corporation is sued it must answer 
by attorney; the whole body of stockholders presumably 
cannot be present, and if they could be present they would 
not be permitted to answer individually. If a church sues, 
or is sued, it must appear by attorney. It must authorize 
someone to speak for it with a single vote. 

The church corporation, the body which administers 
the secular affairs of the church, is amenable to the courts 
more directly than the church as a spiritual organization; 
with which, acting within its own powers, and on matters 
wholly spiritual, the secular courts have no legitimate con- 
cern. 

What Is a Parish? A parish is a corporate body related 
to the local church, and organized for its support and the 
transaction of its secular business. Originally the parish 
was a territorial designation. It was ordinarily coterminus 
with the town or township. In Massachusetts it was neces- 
sary that a man be a citizen of the parish in order to be a 
bona fide resident of the state. In its inception the parish 
goes back to a remote period. The parish is no longer 
territorial, but is composed of individuals, being essentially 
what was formerly known as "poll-parish," and is thus 
virtually the same as an ecclesiastical society. 

What Is a Religious Society? As it is recognized by the laws 
of Massachusetts, a religious society is a body of persons asso- 
ciated together for certain purposes, supposedly religious, with a 
code of by-laws governing the admission of members, the election 
of officers, and the method of calling legal meetings. Before 1869 
it was a body of men only. It is supposed to employ a minister, 
or "Teacher of Morality and Religion," and to maintain public 
services of preaching and worship, though the law does not make 
this obligatory. It has the power of contracting with administer 
for his "support and maintenance," and to determine his tenure 
of office. The duties and responsibilities of its officers are denned 
by the laws of the commonwealth. The Statutes are its constitu- 
tion. It is empowered to hold a limited amount of property for 
special purposes, which it holds in fact and in law as a trustee for 
the benefit of the community where it is located. If it disbands, 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 183 

the Supreme Judicial Court determines what shall be done with the 
property. In law, it is a "charity." 

A church is a different affair. It is a body of men and women, 
and sometimes children, associated together under a covenant, or 
bond of agreement, for the public worship of God, for mutual dis- 
cipline and helpfulness, and for the advancement of the religious 
life of the community. It usually expresses its sense of fellowship 
by symbols. Sometimes it has a creed setting forth the doctrines 
and principles that are taken to be its working hypothesis. Its 
aims are supposed to be spiritual as distinguished from material. 

If it is incorporated and performs the functions stated above, it 
is recognized by the law as a "religious society" in the meaning of 
the Statutes. Otherwise it has never been recognized by the law 
as a religious society having any powers or rights, or even as hav- 
ing any existence independently of some religious society or con- 
gregation with which it is connected. Legally, it is a veritable 
"Church Invisible." 

When the parish first assumed importance as a corporation dis- 
tinct from the town is a matter very difficult to determine. But the 
date is not essential. Practically the line was drawn when, for con- 
venience of attending public worship, a town was divided into dis- 
tricts or precincts, and prudential men, assessors and collectors 
were appointed to administer the parochial affairs of the districts 
so set off. Chief Justice Parsons as early as 1809 says: "When no 
part of a town is included in, or constitutes a parish, the duties of 
a parish are required of the town." "Every town is considered to 
be a parish until a separate parish be formed in it: then the inhabi- 
tants and territory not included in the separate parish form the first 
parish." Parishes and towns are distinct corporations. They must 
subsist together and act apart. 

Chief Justice Parker says: "It was the usage of all our towns 
anciently, before they became divided into parishes, to transact 
their parochial concerns at town meetings, making no difference in 
the forms of their proceedings when acting upon matters of mere 
municipal or political concern." From this we may draw the infer- 
ence that the early settlers brought with them the old English idea 
of the parish, but made no legal distinction between town and par- 
ish until such became necessary for the preservation of property 
rights. 

In the enactments of the General Court, we find the duties of 
parishes first set forth in a Province law of 1702. By this act, if 
the selectmen and constables neglect their parochial duties the 
court of general sessions for the county, after heavily fining them, 
is directed and empowered to appoint three or more sufficient free- 
holders within the same county to assess and apportion the sum 
agreed upon for the support of the ministry, the same as taxes are 
assessed and collected by the towns, and pay the same to the min- 
ister or ministers. It also gives to inhabitants of a district or pre- 
cinct the power to appoint parish officers, with the same parochial 
powers as the officers of a town. 

During this period a large number of religious societies or par- 
ishes were incorporated within the territory of towns, the inhabi- 



184 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

tants of the town freely choosing the parish to which their paro- 
chial tax should be paid. 

Quakers and Baptists were excused from paying parish taxes on 
account of conscience, in 1728. Episcopalians were refused relief if 
they lived more than five miles from an Episcopal church, because 
they had no conscientious scruples about attending a parish church. 

In religious affairs, as in political, the period was one of general 
ferment. Liberalism was growing, both in matters of faith and in 
the spirit of individual liberty. While no radical changes in legis- 
lation concerning religious affairs are noticeable, the trend of 
thought and feeling in the latter years of the period was decidedly 
in the direction of making the support of the ministry voluntary in 
every respect. 

Finally, the movement culminated in the Eleventh Amendment 
to the Constitution, which made a complete separation between the 
parish and the town. It took away from the towns the right to 
choose ministers, and gave it to the several religious societies. It 
also gave the societies the right to raise money for building, for 
support, and the power to make contracts, and secured to members 
their rights. 

The supporting law of 1834 declared the various existing reli- 
gious societies to be bodies corporate, for a purpose, with the same 
rights that towns acting in parochial capacities had heretofore exer- 
cised, and confirmed the privileges of churches connected with 
them. 

The marked difference is, that while, up to this time, all inhabi- 
tants who had not been excused by law and who had not desig- 
nated the parish to which they chose to be attached, had been taken 
to be members of the first parish, and no inhabitant could be ex- 
cluded from the parish of his choice, now and henceforth parishes 
were to be composed of men who chose to be members and who 
were admitted by vote of the members already composing the 
parish. The parishes thus became close corporations. The original 
corporate or "charter" members were those inhabitants who were 
members of the parish before the separation. 

Parishes now adopted by-laws governing the admission of mem- 
bers. The parish, like the church, became a voluntary organiza- 
tion, and, like the church, self-perpetuating. All the parochial 
property of the town, meeting house, lands, donations, burial 
grounds, now vested in the First Parish, or in the parish that suc- 
ceeded to the parochial rights of a territorial precinct or district. 

Henceforth, the important matter of calling a minister, as it 
lay between parish and church, became wholly a matter of usage, 
though the power to make contracts remained with the parish. 

The parish had evolved from a territorial affair to a personal 
affair. In relation to the public, great changes had taken place. 
Whereas in the Colonial period the church was the body of supreme 
social and religious importance, now the parish, by reason of its 
authority over the sources of supply, became the body of chief 
importance. No man need belong to a parish or to a church. But 
tradition, conventionalities, social standing, family inheritances and 
respect compelled men who would stand well in the community to 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 185 

identify themselves with a religious society. The parish, unlike the 
church, assumed no jurisdiction over the conscience or beliefs of 
its members and had no means of discipline. — /. N. Pardee: The 
Church and Parish in Massachusetts, pp. 8-24. 

What Is an Ecclesiastical Society? An ecclesiastical 
society is a corporate body, usually in affiliation with a 
local church, and entrusted with the care of its property 
in part or in whole, and with the management of such of 
its secular affairs as its charter or constitution or its com- 
pact with the church accord to it. In general it may be 
stated that the ecclesiastical society succeeds to the duties 
formerly devolving upon the parish. 

May a Society Exist Without a Church? A society 
may exist without a church. The Blue Hill Ecclesiastical 
Society, of Readville, Mass., is an example. For many 
years it has existed and owned a place of worship, its mem- 
bers holding their church relations in various churches, 
most of them in the neighboring town of Hyde Park. For 
the purpose, however, of maintaining worship in the neigh- 
borhood where these people resided, an ecclesiastical society 
is established and maintained, and is not in affiliation with 
any local church. 

May a Local Church Exist Without a Society? A local 
church may exist without a society, and usually is better 
off without one. The famous Dedham case of 1820 Baker 
vs. Fales, 16 Mass. 488) decided that a Congregational 
church cannot exist apart from a society. This, however, 
was very doubtful law even at that time, and is far from 
being good law now. 

What Are the Reasons for a Society? The reasons 
which have been given in favor of an ecclesiastical society 
are that it permits the vested interests of the church to be 
cared for by a selected group of responsible men. A church 
includes in its membership women and young children, 
many of whom are supposed to have little business experi- 
ence. A society may limit its membership to those who 
are supposed to have mature business judgment, and can 
include some men who, while not members of the church, 



186 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

still are interested in its welfare, who are contributors to 
its support, and whose business judgment is likely to be 
of value. The advantages of the system, however, do not 
equal its disadvantages. It is a system which sometimes 
works well, but it has been fruitful of friction, and it is 
rather surprising that this friction has not been more rather 
than less. Dr. Dexter, in his Congregational Manual, ear- 
nestly advised against it. 

The Unitarians, who inherited the parish system from 
us and in the beginning profited by it in the famous Ded- 
ham decision of 1820, have found it an incumbrance i» 
many cases. The American Unitarian Association has 
issued an interesting booklet, entitled "The Parish and 
Church in Massachusetts," by Rev. Joseph N. Pardee, 
which is furnished free and which advises churches as to 
methods of eliminating the parish or society. 

Joint Church and Parish System. Could the subject now be 
arranged in view of the experience of the past, and in disregard 
of all other considerations, I can hardly conceive it possible that 
any intelligent and hearty Congregationalist would advocate the 
common New England joint church and parish system as ab- 
stractly best for the church, or for the interests of vital godliness 
in the land. Such being the fact, it would seem to be an easy 
inference that the true policy to be pursued is to discontinue the 
ecclesiastical society altogether, wherever it prove to be legally 
possible without detriment to the safe administration of the pecun- 
iary interests of the church; and in all cases where a society be 
still on the whole advisable, to mitigate its evils by putting it as 
closely as possible under church control, or at least augmenting 
as largely as may be church influence within it. 

In all cases where the question becomes a practical one, then 
it is to be recommended that the advice of a Christian lawyer 
familiar with the local laws be taken, and that where, in his judg- 
ment, a society be indispensable, if it be possible, make it one of 
its fundamental laws that membership in it be limited to members 
of the church. — Dexter: Handbook, pp. 95-96. 

What Are the Powers and Limitations of the Society? 

Where a society exists, it is a holding corporation, manag- 
ing the business interests of the church. It owns the church 
property, subject to the use of the church, but can have no 
power to alienate the property or to use it for purposes 
contrary to the welfare of the church. It can, however, 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 187 

refuse to provide means for the repair of the building or 
for the support of its minister, and this it sometimes has 
been known to do, though happily not frequently. 

Both church and society must concur in the call of a 
pastor. The action must originate with the church, the 
society having no power to begin proceedings looking to- 
ward the securing of the minister. The church having 
issued an invitation to a pastor, first notifies the society of 
its proposed call, and the society considers whether it will 
concur in the call and provide for the support of the min- 
ister. The society has sole power to fix the compensation 
of the pastor, and is the only body that can be sued. The 
church alone is responsible for the conduct of the pastor, 
who is not commonly a member of the society, but should 
be a member of the church. Should the minister displease 
the society, he cannot be expelled by that body without the 
consent of the church. The society can, however, refuse 
to support him. If he is installed by council or has a con- 
tract for a definite period, his salary can be collected from 
the society by civil process. Should the church desire to 
terminate the pastorate, the concurrence of the society 
must be secured, and if the minister is installed by council 
both church and society must join in the call. 

What Are the Relations of Church and Society? The 
relations of church and society are various, and dependent 
upon the compact existing between them. In some of the 
older churches the parish has far too great power. Wher- 
ever church and society, or parish, exist together, the 
church should be made superior in every spiritual interest. 
In no case should the parish usurp authority over the 
church, or use its power over the purse of the congregation 
to force an action detrimental to the spiritual interests of 
the church. The following rules from Dexter's Handbook 
are usual in the relations of church and society: 

Form of Rules for Joint Action of the Congregational 

Church and _ Congregational Society 

I. 

Whenever the church and society shall be without a settled 



188 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

pastor and a new one is to be obtained, a joint committee of the 
church and society, consisting of seven persons, of whom four 
shall be chosen by the church and three by the society, shall pro- 
vide a supply for the pulpit, and take all necessary measures to 
that end. The church shall have the right, in all cases, to select a 
pastor (or colleague pastor, when it may be deemed expedient by 
the church and society to settle a colleague pastor), to be proposed 
to the society for its concurrence. If said society shall concur 
with the church in said selection, a call shall be given by the 
church and society jointly, to the person selected; but if the so- 
ciety do not concur in the selection, the church shall select again, 
and so again, from time to time, until the church and society shall 
agree in a choice, and when so agreed, a call shall be given to the 
person so chosen, by the church and society as stated above; that 
is, jointly. It is herein agreed that no committee of supply of the 
pulpit shall ever have the power to contract with any minister to 
occupy the pulpit as "stated supply" or "acting pastor" — and no 
minister shall so occupy it — for a period longer than three months, 
without special instruction to that effect by both church and so- 
ciety at meetings legally called for that purpose. 

II. 

The amount of salary to be given to the pastor shall be fixed by 
the society. 

III. 
Temporary supply of the pulpit, during the absence or sickness 
of the pastor, shall be provided by the pastor and deacons of the 
church, and the bills of necessary expenses incurred for that pur- 
pose shall be submitted to the prudential committee of the society, 
and, when approved by them, shall be paid by the treasurer. By 
the word "church," hereinbefore used, is meant all (male) members 
of the church in good and regular standing, of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards. 

IV. 

A committee to regulate the matter of singing, and of church 
music, shall be appointed jointly by the church and society (annu- 
ally), three persons by the former, and two by the latter. 

V. 
No alteration shall be made in these rules, on the part of either 
church or society, unless the same be ^agreed to by two-thirds of 
the members of each, present at legal meetings, seasonable notice 
of such proposed alteration having been previously given. — Dexter: 
Handbook, pp. 186-187. 

In the interpretation of the foregoing or any other rules 
governing the relations of church and society, or parish, it 
should steadily be kept in mind that the parish, or society, 
exists solely by reason of a condition so different from that 
which now obtains that practically none of the new Con- 
gregational churches are organizing after this fashion. The 
whole trend of our modern Congregational life is to empha- 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 189 

size the right of the religious body to assume direct cor- 
porate powers. 

Should the Minister Attend Meetings of the Society? 
Unless the minister is a member of the society he has no 
technical right to be present at its meetings, except by 
invitation. It is entirely becoming, however, that he should 
be invited to attend and that his suggestions should be 
heard with courtesy. Where the pastor does not attend 
the meetings of the society, it would be becoming for the 
Board of Trustees in advance of any meeting of the society 
to have a conference with the pastor and to present his 
views. Where the pastor is not a member of the society, 
his relation to the body is somewhat analogous to that of 
the President of the United States in his relations to Con- 
gress, and a message from the pastor should always receive 
courteous attention. 

How May a Church Free Itself from Relations with a 
Society? Many churches organized in affiliation with soci- 
eties in days when the laws for the incorporation of 
churches were less favorable than now, desire to be rid of 
an arrangement for which no good reason longer exists. 
The author has received inquiries from scores, probably 
hundreds, of churches, asking how they may dispense with 
a society. It must be remembered that the church and the 
society are separate institutions. A church cannot abolish 
a society against the society's will, nor can it abrogate a 
joint agreement excepting by mutual consent. It is not 
usually wise for a church to attempt to abolish a society 
unless at least two-thirds of the members of the society 
agree that it is desirable. If the church feels that the 
society is no longer of use, it should first ascertain whether 
the society concurs in the opinion; if it does, the plan is a 
simple one. A good Christian lawyer should ordinarily be 
consulted, but where there are no complications the follow- 
ing directions will suffice : 

First, the church itself should become incorporated. 
Being incorporated, it should express to the society its 



190 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

willingness to receive any property which the society desires 

to transfer to the church. It should then wait the action 

of the society. 

For the incorporation of a church see the author's Manual, 
pp. 93-95. 

Secondly, the society should hold a regularly called 
meeting, setting forth as the business of the meeting the 
proposed transfer of its property, both real and personal, 
to the incorporated church. Whether this action requires 
a majority or two-thirds vote will depend upon the rules 
of the society, but as a matter of expediency and of 
brotherly spirit it should seldom, if ever, be undertaken 
with less than a two-thirds vote. 

Thirdly, the society can then make a deed of all its real 
estate to the incorporated church, and also a bill of sale of 
all its personal property. 

Fourthly, the society may then disband, and ordinarily 
should do so. Occasionally it will be found an advantage 
to continue the corporate existence of the society. The 
author has known of one or two cases where the vested 
interests appeared to make this advisable. In such a case 
the society continues a mere nominal existence without 
property rights or any measurable control of the affairs of 
the church. Manifestly this condition is not usually desir- 
able to perpetuate, and it is better that the society disband 
in an orderly and dignified manner, and turn over its books 
to the church than that it should die a lingering death and 
finally disappear. 

Fifthly, the church should hold a meeting, which ordi- 
narily may occur at the same time and place, in which its 
officers receive the papers transferred by the society and 
formally accept the trust reposed in the church and transact 
any necessary business. If the trustees have hitherto been 
officers of the society and the church has had no trustees, 
its constitution will have been amended in its incorporation 
so that these officers shall now be chosen by the church. 
They may have been elected previously. It is not necessary 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 191 

to wait for the formal transfer of the property before offi- 
cers are chosen to receive it. Whatever business remains 
for the church to perform after the society has completed 
its work, should be done in a careful manner, so as to 
insure all vested rights. 

The church has one remaining duty which it should 
consider with great care. Often it will be found that a 
few men who have hitherto been members of the society 
and active in its affairs are not members of the church. 
Sometimes these are conscientious and faithful men who 
feel keenly the fact that they can no longer express in the 
same manner as hitherto their interest in the welfare of 
the church. Great consideration should be shown these 
men. If they are men of worthy life, possessing the essen- 
tials of a Christian faith, the church can well afford to 
waive some of its usual forms and conditions in order to 
make it easy for them to become members of the church. 
In some cases known to the author, the dissolution of the 
society has proved the occasion for the showing of the very 
finest Christian qualities on the part of the members of the 
society and has resulted in their uniting with the church 
under very happy conditions. 



XII. AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS 

What Are Affiliated Organizations? The development 
of religious work in modern times has called into existence 
a wide variety of agencies in more or less close affiliation 
with local churches or groups of churches. Among these 
are Sunday schools, Christian Endeavor societies, Young 
Women's and Young Men's Christian Associations, Bible 
societies, Brotherhoods, and other organizations or benevo- 
lent activities. No one plan can be said to govern these 
different organizations. They may be so planned as to be 
under the direct control of a local church; they may be 
organically independent but with all officers chosen from 
the membership of the local church and with the pastor 
so related to the organization as to exert a practical con- 
trol. They may be entirely independent, yet working in 
close sympathy with the church as an organization. The 
wide diversity of these organizations, both in respect of 
their forms of government and the purposes for which they 
are organized, renders generalization difficult. Manifestly, 
any organization using the church property and the church 
name should be so far answerable to the church as definitely 
to promote the welfare of the church and advance some one 
of the ends for which it exists. It is inherently desirable 
that every such organization should be related to the organic 
life and structure of the church. 

Affiliated Organizations. Most of our churches have young 
people's societies, missionary societies, men's clubs and women's 
societies of various kinds. The more these can be unified with the 
church organization the better. Of course if they elect their offi- 
cers independently of it, they cannot be officially represented in 
its counsels; but frequent meetings of all who lead in the spiritual 
or charitable activities of the congregation are desirable and tend 
to unity in the whole body. In this way conflicting appointments 
and, what is worse, conflicting plans are avoided. The contribu- 
tions of these various sub-organizations should be sent to their 
various objects through the treasurer of the church, so that they 
may be received and recorded as from its several departments. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, pp. 58-59. 



AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS 193 

Liberty of Organization. In the matter of Sunday schools, 
prayer meetings, sewing circles and other social meetings, and the 
general administration of religious affairs, Congregational churches 
differ in no way from other active Christians; and it is their funda- 
mental principle that their polity has congenial and welcome place 
for every wise method of working for the glory of God, and the 
temporal and eternal good of men, which sanctified ingenuity can 
devise, and Christian common sense indorse. — Dexter: Handbook, 
p. 88. 

What Is a Sunday School? A Sunday school is an 
organization for Bible instruction, and may exist either 
independently or under the control of a church. Where a 
Sunday school exists in connection with a church, it should 
not be considered an independent organization. Its super- 
intendent should be elected by the church on nomination 
of the teachers of the Sunday school. The church should 
appropriate money for the support of the school, and the 
school should make its offering for the support of the 
church. Great care should be taken, both on the part of 
the church and of the Sunday school, to prevent any im- 
pression that the Sunday school is an organization outside 
of the church. 

In theory the Sunday school should be an organic part 
of the church organization. In a majority of churches prob- 
ably the Sunday school exists as an independent body, elect- 
ing its own officers and raising the money for its own sup- 
port, except for its free use of the church building. 

Sunday School a Part of the Church. The Sunday school 
should be recognized fully as part of the church and by no means 
an unimportant part of it. It is an organization by itself, so far 
as it has officers of its own, but the superintendent should always 
be elected as one of the officers of the church and should be an 
ex-officio member of the standing committee, so that there may 
be the closest relations between the Sunday school and the other 
parts of the church organization. He should select the teachers 
so far as possible from the members of the church, and with them 
should appoint the other officers of the school, who with him 
should form a Sunday school committee, to serve the Sunday 
school in a way similar to that in which the church committee 
serves the church. The current expenses of the Sunday school, as 
being an essential part of the organization, should be met from 
the general treasury of the church. — Boynton: Congregational Way, 
p. 58. 

What Is the Pastor's Place in the Sunday School? The 



194 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

pastor is also the teacher of the church, and therefore is the 
first teacher in the Sunday school. He should enter into 
consultation with the officers of the Sunday school con- 
cerning courses of study and methods of instruction. His 
judgment should be given weight, and in all ordinary cases 
his wishes should be scrupulously regarded; but every pas- 
tor should be careful not to enforce his leadership in un- 
seemly ways or underrate the prerogatives of his subordi- 
nates. He may not remove a teacher from the Sunday 
school by an arbitrary act of his own, but must accomplish 
any desired change through the superintendent. No teacher 
or superintendent should abuse this liberty by exalting his 
own authority above that of the pastor. The authority of 
the superintendent is a delegated authority, and must be so 
regarded. Yet as the captain of a ship has, while at sea, 
an authority over his ship which even the owner, if a pas- 
senger, must respect, and may put the owner in irons as a 
mutineer if he transgresses his rightful authority, so the 
pastor must remember that the authority of each of his 
subordinates must be commensurate with his responsibility 
in the conduct of his office. 

How Shall the Church Conduct the Work of Its 
Women? The organizations of the women of the church 
are to be formed and maintained subject to the approval of 
the church. The women's missionary societies should 
adopt only such constitutions and rules for their govern- 
ment as are approved by the church. In some churches the 
women maintain separate missionary organizations for local 
work and for missionary work; and the missionary organi- 
zations are sometimes divided between home missionary 
and foreign missionary societies. The present tendency is 
toward simplicity of organization, with one society for all 
the women of the church, and programs, in charge of sep- 
arate committees, alternating between home and foreign 
missions, and with work so distributed as to give adequate 
representation to the various activities which form a part 
of the society's work. 



AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS 195 

Women's Societies. An excellent way of bringing the various 
independent societies for women in a church together is for the 
women to have a general organization with a presiding officer and 
a secretary, of which all these various societies for home and for- 
eign work and for church aid shall be committees. It is easy thus 
to bring all the women of the church together to make plans for 
any special work which is to come upon them all, as well as to 
unify their common work and bring its various departments into 
touch. The same simple federation of all the organizations for 
men is desirable, and may be accomplished in connection with a 
men's club. The ideal way is to conduct all these activities as 
parts of the one church. No part of the church should ever act 
or speak as though it were independent of it, or of the results of 
its effort as though it were not part of the church; more than all 
it should never be named in contrast to the church. — Boynton: Con- 
gregational Way, p. 59. 

What Is the Office of a Brotherhood? A brotherhood 
or other organization of the men of the church may be 
formed for co-operation with the church and its pastor in 
promoting any or all of the objects for which the church 
is established. Its constitution should be approved by the 
church either formally or by general consent. It is not 
always or even often necessary that the precise form of 
each detail should be required to be passed upon by the 
church in its official capacity. It is usually enough that the 
wishes of the church and pastor are known and complied 
with, and that the spirit of the organization be that of 
thorough accord and in harmony with the spirit of the 
church. 

Do These Organizations Exist for Their Own Ends? It 

is as wrong in theory as in practice for any organization 
related to the church to think of itself as existing for its 
own sake or for the mere pleasure of its members. Every 
such organization exists, or ought to exist, as an instru- 
ment of the church for the doing of some part of its work, 
and it should cultivate within itself a constant spirit of 
loyalty and of helpfulness. 

All the organizations should be correlated in such fash- 
ion that they shall have an organic relation to the church 
and that their work shall be a part of its work. 

The church should not delegate its educational work to 



196 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

an outside organization known as the Sunday school, nor its 
missionary work to an isolated group organized as the mis- 
sionary society, but the church should be organized for an 
educational program and missionary propaganda in which 
various organizations, whether men or women, young peo- 
ple or others, may adequately express the life and effort of 
the church working through them. 

A Constructive Program. A comprehensive program for train- 
ing our own church people, and especially the rising generation, in 
Christian life, for Christian service and for Christian leadership, 
would include the elements sketched below. In respect to litera- 
ture and courses of study, this program would enter around the 
Sunday School curriculum. 

(1) Every church should have a school graded according to 
the best possibilities in each case, with lesson materials properly 
adapted to the scheme of gradation. • 

(2) Training in missions should be made a part of the curricu- 
lum, with courses of study prepared by an editor or secretary 
responsible for all the denominational literature, in co-operation 
with the missionary secretaries. 

(3) Training in social service should be provided for through 
simple courses in the grades and more extended courses in adult 
classes, with actual work by groups and individuals under com- 
petent direction in local charities, missionary enterprises, etc. 

(4) There should be courses in the Sunday School or in pastors' 
training classes for the development of personal religion, and the 
preparation of our young people for church membership. There 
are churches in our denomination which have worked out excellent 
systems which might well serve as patterns to work by. 

(5) There should be courses in the essentials of church history 
and Congregational polity, with thoughtful provision for training in 
church administration. 

(6) There should be courses for parents, intended as helps to 
religious nurture in the home. 

(7) There should be courses for college and university students, 
intended to foster their personal religion and to prepare them for 
religious and social service in and through their home churches 
when they return; such courses to be given by churches located in 
the college town whenever possible. 

(8) The plan should include active measures for bringing the 
vocation of the ministry to the attention of our best young men in 
convincing fashion. — Report of the Commission on Moral and Re- 
ligious Education, National Council of 1915. 



XIIL CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 

Who Should Be Regarded as Candidates for the Min- 
istry? Men who have been called of God to preach, and 
who have accepted that call as they have understood and 
received it, and who have been recognized by the church 
through some authorized body as apt to teach and of good 
report, but who are not yet ready for full ministerial serv- 
ice, may be accredited as candidates for the ministry and 
given licensure or approbation to preach. 

License to Preach. Formerly, individual pastors introduced 
whom they thought proper into their pulpits, and churches made 
long trial of the gifts and fitness of candidates for the pastoral 
office. In 1705, an unsuccessful effort was made to have none thus 
employed as candidates, who are not "recommended by a testi- 
monial under the hands of some association." Wise strenuously 
maintains that this would be an infringement on the rights of the 
churches. Cotton Mather regards the want of a formal licensing 
power as a defect, and quotes his Proposals, published twenty 
years before, but says: "They are not to this day (1726) fully 
executed." — Cummings: Cong. Diet.., License. 

What Is a Call to Preach? The call to preach the gospel 
is to be discerned, first by the earnest conviction of the 
candidate himself, and secondly by the testimony of the 
church to his gifts and ability. His first duty is obedience 
to the inward voice; his second is to assure himself that 
his inward call is what he believes it to be by the concur- 
rent witness of the local church to which he belongs, and 
of a body representative of the fellowship of the churches. 

Preparation for the Ministry. The first thing for a member of 
a Congregational church to do, who feels the call of duty or desire 
to enter the Christian ministry in connection with the Congrega- 
tional churches, is to make sure that the call is of God. For this 
he should scan his motives, study the work as a privilege and 
opportunity and not at all from a commercial standpoint, ask the 
Lord to make the matter plain to him and seek advice from Chris- 
tian friends on whose judgment of his adaptation to the demands 
of the ministry he can largely rely. If he expects to be a pastor 
and to preach for a lifetime, he should lay solid foundation of 
Bible and other study in a theological seminary or elsewhere, and 
learn how to approach men and women and children by an appren- 
ticeship to some mission work. When his preliminary preparation 
has been thus completed, he should seek an approbation to preach 



198 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

from a body of ministers or churches, as may be the custom in 
his locality. If, as sometimes happens, delay and fuller prepara- 
tion are counseled, he should take the advice meekly and act upon 
it, sure that it is meant only for his good and greater usefulness. 
If his request is granted and he is given this introduction to the 
churches, he goes out strengthened in his own spirit and in his 
position. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 85. 

What Is Licensure to Preach? Licensure to preach is 
a form of approbation granted to men who are either candi- 
dates for the gospel ministry, or who, without present in- 
tention to seek ordination, give evidence of gifts which in 
the judgment of the church ought to be exercised in the 
preaching of the gospel. 

Licentiates Not Ministers. Licentiates are not ministers, but 
laymen approbated to preach the gospel as candidates for ordina- 
tion to the ministry. This approbation is given by associations 
either of churches or of ministers. — Ross: Pocket Manual, p. 69. 

May a Local Church License a Preacher? A local 
church may license a preacher for work within its own 
parish. A church which is maintaining a mission, or a 
preaching appointment in a school house within the bounds 
of its own parish, may elect one of its own members as 
preacher in that mission or settlement and renew the license 
from time to time at its pleasure, unless otherwise specified. 
The period of such license terminates at the date fixed by 
the church and the character of the service to be rendered 
cannot exceed in its functions the authority of the licentiate. 
Such a man has no standing outside of his own church and 
parish, except that of a Christian layman. 

What Body Should Issue License to Preach? Associa- 
tions of ministers and churches are in all ordinary cases the 
proper bodies to issue certificates of licensure. A licentiate 
should be under the care of a standing body representative 
both of the churches and the ministry. 

Dr. Dexter, who strongly objected to the term licensure, 
and urged the better term of approbation to preach, passed 
very lightly over the matter of candidacy for the ministry, 
and even Dr. Ross deals with it quite incidentally. There 
really was no orderly place for licensure in the usage of 



CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 199 

that part of our denomination which followed Dexter in 
regarding associations as mere voluntary clubs, yet per- 
mitted that "for convenience sake, they have gradually 
come to be the depositories of a quasi power, which when 
suitably managed is of most beneficent character and influ- 
ence," so that the churches "have tacitly agreed that it is 
wise that candidates for their pulpits shall present them- 
selves for examination to some association of ministers, 
whose certificate of approval becomes thereafter their suffi- 
cient commendation to the churches." (Handbook, p. 123.) 
Our denominational usage cannot rest with such a 
theory of a licentiate as bearing only the unofficial letter 
of what Dr. Dexter insisted was but "a voluntary club" 
(Handbook, p. 123). Dr. Dexter's books said as little as 
possible about the place of licentiates; and even Ross, in 
his larger work, devotes to the subject only a part of a 
sentence (Church-Kingdom, p. 226). Dr. George M. Boyn- 
ton felt the inadequacy of this view of the matter, but 
did not get far beyond it. In his theory, the local church 

looked over its own membership first to see if there was one 
among them fitted by nature and by grace to lead and teach the 
rest. In later days, men have been prepared for the sacred office 
by years of study and have sought to enter the work. They have 
appeared as applicants, or at least as those who stood ready to be 
called into this relation to some particular church. It was desir- 
able that they should have not only the approval of their teachers 
but also of some body of men fitted to pass upon the results of 
this teaching and upon their general qualifications for the special 
duties of their spiritual office. — The Congregational Way, p. 82. 

Qualifications of Licentiates. It is expedient that they who 
enter on the work of preaching the gospel be not only qualified 
for communion of saints, but also, that, except in cases extraordi- 
nary, they give proof of their gifts and fitness for the said work 
unto the pastors of churches, of known abilities to discern and 
judge of their qualifications, that they may be sent forth with 
solemn approbation and prayer, which we judge needful, that no 
doubt may remain concerning their being called unto the work; 
and for preventing (so much as in us lieth) ignorant and rash 
intruders. — Saybrook Platform, 1708, ii, 7. 

Varying Usage. The usage in the West and in certain parts 
of New England is that this approbation to preach is given by an 
ecclesiastical body, that is, one composed of representatives of the 
churches. This is usually done on the recommendation of a strong 
committee, a majority of whom at least are ministers, which con- 



200 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ducts the examination and reports to the conference of churches. 
This body will usually sustain the recommendation. In New Eng- 
land this certification is most often given by a body of ministers. 

Letters of commendation from experienced pastors which a 
young minister would naturally take when going among the 
churches as a candidate, gradually assumed the form and authority 
of credentials, till, in 1790, the convention of Congregational min- 
isters virtually made them necessary by recommending that only 
those bearing such papers from clerical bodies be admitted to the 
pulpits. Thus the business of testing the qualifications of a young 
man for the ministry silently and gradually passed from the 
churches to the clergy. 

Such credentials are merely intended to express approbation of 
those who give them; and no Congregational association claims, 
or even can rightfully claim, the authority implied in the word 
license, which in later years has inadvertently crept into our asso- 
ciation nomenclature. — Joseph S. Clark: Historical Sketch of Con- 
gregational Churches in Massachusetts, p. 288. 

Associations of Ministers. Such a body [of ministers, not of 
churches] is perhaps best fitted to pass upon the qualifications 
of those seeking this work. They are themselves men who have 
received the education which they seek in the applicants, and it 
is presumed that they are men whose hearts the grace of God 
has fitted for their own work. This approbation given by either 
body should be an intelligent one, and this introduction to the 
churches should be so guarded and discriminating as to be of real 
value. That it is only introductory is shown by the fact that it 
is for a limited time and is rarely, if ever, given as a permanent 
endorsement or reference. A careless presentation of men as 
candidates for the sacred office is fraught with evils. — Boynton: The 
Congregational Way, pp. 82-83. 

May Bodies of Ministers License? In certain New 
England states where there are Associations of churches 
and independent associations of ministers, it has long been 
the custom to permit the association of ministers to license 
candidates for the ministry. It is not desirable that this 
method be extended beyond its present territorial limits. 
In the interests of unity and good order it would be better 
it even in those cases the association of ministers were to 
act as an examining committee for the Association of min- 
isters and churches, and the result of the examination were 
reported for approval and the public act of licensure per- 
formed by the Association of churches. 

May Theological Seminaries Issue Licenses? Theolog- 
ical seminaries have no authority to issue licenses to 
preach. For a time there was a custom of issuing what are 



CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 201 

known as "seminary licenses." Commonly theological stu- 
dents are not licensed before their middle year, but often 
they preach during their first long vacation. It is entirely 
fitting that they should bear a credential from the institu- 
tion in which they are pursuing their studies, but such a 
credential should bear no semblance to a license. It should 
be strictly limited in time and in no case exceed six months. 
It should be recognized as merely a personal letter of intro- 
duction from the faculty of the seminary and a document 
wholly destitute of ecclesiastical authority. 

The National Council has definitely spoken adversely 
on the matter of so-called seminary licenses (Minutes of 
Council of 1904, p. 557). 

Is a Diploma a Substitute for Examination? Candidates 
for the ministry should submit evidences of their scholar- 
ship, and particularly of their theological studies, but no 
diploma or certificate should be accepted as a substitute for 
thorough examination on the part of the churches them- 
selves, through their accredited representatives. 

Should Licensure Be Permanent? Approbation to 
preach should not be unlimited as to time, and may be lim- 
ited also as to place. It is not in the interests of good 
order that licensure should be indefinite. One year is ordi- 
narily the limit; two years should be the extreme limit; 
but licenses may be renewed from time to time and as 
many times as are necessary. An exception to the rule 
might be made in the case of the lay-preacher who had 
given satisfactory proof of his ability, and who had no 
intention of becoming an ordained minister; but even in 
that case it would be better and more orderly for the license 
to be renewed as often as once in two years. 

May an Association License a Lay-Preacher? An 
Association may license a lay-preacher. Where it is pro- 
posed that his service extend beyond the bounds of his 
own parish, it is desirable that his approbation be certified 
by the Association to which his own church belongs. No 
lay-preacher should be licensed by an Association except 



202 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

on the request and recommendation of the church of which 
he is a member. 
May Men Be Licensed Without Intent to Be Ordained? 

It is entirely suitable that men should be licensed to preach 
who have no present intention of being ordained or of 
entering the work of the ministry, or whose gifts and oppor- 
tunities for usefulness are such that they ought to preach 
the gospel only in certain places or under certain conditions. 
The church ought to make larger use of lay-preachers. A 
larger number of men than is now employed might profit- 
ably be commissioned to preach in missions, school houses, 
and places of assembly remote from houses of worship. A 
consecrated layman having gifts which he is willing and 
disposed to exercise in this manner should receive in some 
formal way the approbation of the church. 

How Shall a Candidate for the Ministry Prepare Him- 
self for Licensure? A man believing himself to have a call 
to preach the gospel should first consult with his own pas- 
tor, or if the church of which he is a member be without 
a pastor, then with some other wise and experienced min- 
ister of the gospel, who should advise him with reference 
to his preparation. After meditation and prayer and dili- 
gent inquiry into his own motives and qualifications, and 
the pursuit of such studies as will fitly prepare him for his 
great work, he should apply to the Association to which 
his church belongs, for approbation to preach the gospel. 
He should submit a statement setting forth, — 

(a) His full name and address. 

(b) His age and present occupation. 

(c) The date and place of his first church membership 
and of all succeeding church memberships. 

(d) The name of his present pastor, and the names of 
his teachers, or of others who will vouch for his Christian 
character and ability to preach. 

(e) A statement of his experience in Christian work. 

(f) The grounds on which he is moved to prepare for 
the Christian ministry. 



CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 203 

What Constitutes Examination for Licensure? A can- 
didate for licensure should be thoroughly examined in, — 

(a) His Christian experience and call to the ministry. 

(b) The nature and content of the books of the Bible. 

(c) The doctrines of the Christian Church. 

(d) Church History. 

(e) The ability to prepare and deliver sermons, includ- 
ing the rules of composition, rhetoric and logic. 

(f) Ethics, moral philosophy, the evidences of Chris- 
tianity, and religious pedagogy. 

(g) Church polity, including the history, doctrines and 
usage of the Congregational churches. 

(h) His knowledge of the missionary organizations and 
work of the Christian churches, and particularly of the 
Congregational churches. 

In case a candidate exhibits lack of thorough training 
in any of these subjects, his license may be withheld, or. 
if granted, it's renewal may be conditional upon his pursu- 
ing these subjects, or any of them, to the full satisfaction 
of the Association. 

Are Licentiates Members of the Association? Licenti- 
ates are not ministerial members of their Association, but 
are under the care of said Association as candidates for 
the ministry. Any candidate for the ministry who has 
been licensed by an Association, in terminating that rela- 
tionship either by transfer, or ordination, or by change of 
his life plan, should notify the Association by which he 
has been licensed and secure an orderly termination of his 
relations to it. 

No licentiate can properly be under the care of two 
Associations at once, nor is it orderly for him to seek rela- 
tions with one Association until he has terminated his rela- 
tions with another, even though the period of his licensure 
in the first may have expired. In case he has been licensed 
for one year by one Association, and at the close of that 
year, having removed, seeks licensure from another Asso- 



204 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ciation, the Association granting the original license should 
have suitable notification of the change, and signify its 
consent thereto. 

May Licentiates Be Transferred to Other Associations? 
A candidate for the ministry to whom approbation to 
preach has been granted by one Association, and who dur- 
ing the period of his licensure removes to another Associa- 
tion for any good reason, may be granted a letter of trans- 
fer from one Association to the other. Any Association 
receiving a licentiate from another Association should 
notify the Association from which he is received, of his 
reception. 

May Licentiates Be Received from Other Denomina- 
tions? A licentiate may be received from another denom- 
ination, and his credentials given such weight as may be 
due to them, but all relations with the former denomination 
should be terminated in an orderly manner, and the Asso- 
ciation may make such further examination as shall fully 
satisfy it of the candidate's character, ability, and fitness. 

May Licentiates Administer the Ordinances? A church 
has a right to authorize one of its officers or members, or 
a licentiate serving as its stated supply, to administer the 
sacraments. In some isolated communities it may be best 
that churches should exercise this right. In some frontier 
states it has been customary for Associations to authorize 
licentiates to administer the sacraments during the period 
of their licensure. It may be expedient in some very re- 
mote communities that this be continued. But in general 
it is to be discouraged as subversive of good order. The 
judgment of the churches would appear to be increasingly 
against it, and the reasons which formerly were supposed 
to require it grow less cogent with the progress of the 
settlement of the country. 

May Licentiates Solemnize Marriages? In a few states 
Congregational licentiates are permitted to solemnize mar- 
riages, but most states forbid this, some of them under 
penalty of fine or imprisonment. 



CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY 205 

The Illinois Law. In answer to the question whether a licen- 
tiate may solemnize marriages, I beg to say that the statute of the 
State of Illinois provides: 

"Marriages may be celebrated by a minister of the gospel in 
regular standing in the church or society to which he belongs." 
The "regular standing" here referred to is "ministerial standing" — 
not regular standing as a member of the church. This law, there- 
fore, means exactly the same as though it read: 

"Marriages may be celebrated by a minister of the gospel in 
regular ministerial standing in the church or society to which he 
belongs." 

There should be no confusion as to what the State has done 
and what the Church may do under this law. The State has 
ordained that marriages may be celebrated by a minister in regular 
ministerial standing. It remains for the Church to determine the 
ministerial standing of each person concerned. The Church may 
determine whether Mr. A is a minister in regular standing, but it 
cannot enlarge or diminish his powers in the matter of celebrating 
marriages. The State has, by statute, provided that if Mr. A be a 
minister in regular standing he shall have this prerogative, and the 
Church cannot say that he shall not have it. On the contrary, it 
is only the minister in regular standing upon whom the State has 
conferred this authority, and the Church cannot say that it will 
confer this power upon any other person. Since the State has not 
so provided, it is perfectly manifest that the Church cannot say that 
its deacons or elders, or other officials, may exercise this power. 
The sole function of the Church, therefore, is to determine who are 
ministers in regular ministerial standing. If the Church, through 
its proper official legislative body, should pass a rule, in substance, 
that licentiates are to be deemed as ministers in regular standing, 
then that class of persons would at once, under the statutes of the 
State, be invested with authority to celebrate marriages. On the 
contrary, if the Church refuses or neglects to give licentiates regu- 
lar standing as ministers of the denomination, then it cannot confer 
upon them the power to celebrate marriages. The above relates to 
the power of the Church itself, acting through its representative 
legislative bodies. 

The question may still remain, what is meant by "the church" 
as that term is used in the statute, where it is said that the minister 
shall be in regular standing "in the church or society to which he 
belongs." Does the word church here used mean the denomination, 
or does it mean the local individual church? I think it clearly 
means the denomination, as, for example, the Congregational 
Church, or the Presbyterian Church — and does not mean, for exam- 
ple, the New England Congregational Church, or the Ravenswood 
Presbyterian Church. I assume, therefore, that the Congregational 
Conference of Illinois represents the Congregational churches of 
the State. In its Constitution I find no direct reference to this 
matter. The effect of this would be to leave to the district asso- 
ciations control over the subject matter. The Constitution of the 
Chicago Association, in art. viii, contains this: 

"The Association insists upon ordination by a representative 
body as essential to ministerial standing, and will recognize the 
credentials only of ministers who have been properly ordained." 



206 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

We have here, by action of the Chicago Association, a direct 
denial of ministerial standing to persons who have not been or- 
dained. Licentiates, for lack of ordination, could not have minis- 
terial standing under this law of the Chicago Congregational Asso- 
ciation. — Hon. George A. Dupuy, in legal opinion on right of licen- 
tiates to solemnize marriage in Illinois. 

May a License Be Terminated? A license to preach 
may be terminated by the body which issued it. No trial 
is necessary, but a fair hearing should be given. Licensure 
to preach is not ordination, and its revocation is not deposi- 
tion from the ministry. Inasmuch as licenses to preach 
are almost invariably limited in time to one or two years, it 
is rarely necessary to revoke them. If within the period of 
the licensure the candidate proves unworthy, it is usually 
sufficient to refuse to renew the license. But in a flagrant 
case, the termination of the license before its expiration 
would be justified as a protection to the churches. 



XIV. THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 

What Is a Christian Minister? A Christian minister is 
a member of the church, who, having been called of God 
and recognized by the church, is consecrated by an official 
act of ordination to the work of the ministry. 

The Ministry and the Laity. This ministerial function is not 
exclusive. It does not shut out the general body of believers from 
active participation in church worship. No line of separation is 
drawn between the ministry and the laity, as between the priest- 
hood and the people. As in the synagogues every adult male Jew 
could take part in the services, so in the primitive churches laymen 
could take part in the worship (I Cor. 14:31). The function of 
teaching or preaching, by the Acts, the Epistles, and the Apos- 
tolical Constitutions, was open to laymen. In this respect all are 
priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices (I Peter 2:5). The ministry is 
a function of the church-kingdom common to all its members, yet 
specifically manifested in the superior fitness of some. — Ross: 
Church Kingdom, p. 135. 

What Is the Work of the Ministry? The work of the 
Christian ministry is the preaching of the gospel, the 
administration of the sacraments, religious instruction, and 
the oversight and direction of the work of the church ac- 
cording to the principles of the New Testament and the 
usage of the denomination. We cannot wholly agree with 
Mr. Heermance, whose theory of the ministry as a position 
of service is correct in its positive aspects but inadequate in 
its negative implications. 

An Inadequate View. A minister in a Christian church is simply 
its servant (the term hired man we approve not) and derives all 
the powers he possesses from the church which calls him for 
service. — Heermance: Democracy in the Church, p. 141. 

Ministerial Leadership. In our polity, then, the ministry is 
greater than the pastorate. I like Dr. Ross' putting of it as a 
function in the Church-Kingdom. It is an order or range of serv- 
ice in the Kingdom and the church. It is not outside the church, 
and we rightly hold our ministers to church-membership. It is 
not above the church, not a hierarchy with governing power over 
the churches. It is only by way of the pastorate that it becomes 
official in the churches. A minister must be a pastor or be invited 
to perform pastoral service in order to get the office and oppor- 
tunity of leadership in any church. The ministry, as distinguished 
from the pastorate, is to be found not merely in the churches, but 
in and among them in a pervasive sense. It belongs to the 



208 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL US AGE 

churches in common, to the Church Catholic. It is a service to 
the church at large, ready to define itself upon invitation into a 
pastorate of any local church at any time. This distinction dis- 
closes the safety enjoyed by every Congregational church with 
reference to the body of men called the ministry. No one of these 
men, nor all of them combined, can enter the field of any local 
church for the purpose, or by the power of any official action, save 
upon that church's invitation and for the term of that church's 
pleasure. — Nash: Cong. Administration, pp. 64-65. 

What Is a Congregational Minister? A Congregational 

minister is a member of a local Congregational church who 

has been set apart by an act of ordination, and who is in 

good and regular standing in a Congregational Association 

as a minister of the gospel. 

The Ministry as a Business. If this matter of the church and 
her leaders is a business matter, it is spiritual business. It is en- 
gaged with God upon the spirit of man. The ministry is a voca- 
tion. The Church recognizes the divine call and adjusts her call 
to that. The Church cannot take pleasure in that easy running in 
and out of the ministry of which we see lamentably much today. 
It is not a business or profession to be lightly assumed with a 
calculating eye and presently to be discarded as unprosperous. It 
is the highest of vocations, to be entered with a lifelong purpose 
and uncalculating devotion. The Church demands the entire life 
of her ministers, their undivided attention and their unswerving 
purpose unto death; and quality of ministerial work is clearly seen 
to be in direct proportion to such unreserved and dateless conse- 
cration. With less than this churches often put up, but the Church 
is never satisfied. Really providential interruptions are under- 
stood; but the Church's conception of the sacred calling stands at 
the ideal height, and the Church's demands upon her ministers 
abate nothing from the man's total gift of himself and all that he 
hath. — Nash: Congregational Administration, pp. 54, 55. 

How May One Enter the Congregational Ministry? 

Entrance to the Congregational ministry is attained by the 
following steps: 

(a) Membership in a Congregational church. 

(b) Licensure by a Congregational Association, or by 
some ecclesiastical body representative of the denomination 
from which the candidate comes into the Congregational 
fellowship. In rare cases licensure may be dispensed with, 
but this should be the exception, and for important reasons 
well weighed and considered. 

(c) Ordination by a Congregational Association, or by 
a Council of Congregational churches regularly called, or 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 209 

by some other branch of the Christian church with which 
the Congregational churches are in fellowship. 

(d) Membership in a Congregational Association. 

In the official statement by the National Council and 
other bodies, of the conditions of ministerial standing, no 
mention is made of licensure, as that is taken for granted. 
It should be mentioned, however, in a statement such as 
this of the orderly method of becoming a Congregational 
minister. The National Council of 1886, in Chicago, fol- 
lowing lines laid down in the first meeting in 1871, adopted 
the following resolutions : 

Resolved, (1) That standing in the Congregational ministry is 
acquired by the fulfillment of these three conditions: namely, (1) 
membership in a Congregational church; (2) ordination to the 
Christian ministry; and (3) reception as an ordained minister into 
the fellowship of the Congregational churches, in accordance with 
the usage of the state or territorial organization of churches in 
which the applicant may reside; and such standing is to be con- 
tinued in accordance with these usages, it being understood that 
a pro re nata council is the ultimate resort in all cases in question. 

Resolved, (2) That all Congregational ministers in good stand- 
ing in their respective states, who have been installed by council, 
or who have been regularly called to the pastorate by the specific 
vote of some church, have formally accepted such position, and 
have been recognized as such by some definite act of the church, 
should be enrolled as pastors; and we advise that all our denom- 
inational statistics, and direct that, so far as possible, our Year- 
Book, conform to this principle. 

What Is Ordination? Ordination is the official act of 
the churches in fellowship, setting apart a member of the 
church to a designated form of service. Ordination is com- 
monly applied, and in Congregationalism almost wholly 
limited, to the work of the ministry. But the term is appli- 
cable to other offices, particularly to the office of deacon. 

Ordination. This ordination we account nothing else but the 
solemn putting of a man into his place and office in the church, 
whereunto he had right before by election; being like the installing 
of a magistrate in the commonwealth. — Cambridge Platform, ix, 2. 

Ordination a Recognition of the Call of God. The recognition 
of the ministry is made in ordination, which is a formal inquiry and 
setting apart to the work. The inquiry respects the qualifications, 
and consequent fitness or unfitness, of the candidate, as called of 
God for the ministry; and the setting apart is an ecclesiastical act 



210 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

or ceremony formally recognizing him as called of God to be a 
minister. — Ross: Church Kingdom, p. 150. 

It is agreed by all that the primary and constitutive act for 
establishing the pastorate is that choice of the body of believers 
which summons the person chosen to its leadership in Christian 
teaching and work. To this must, of course, be added the pastor's 
acceptance of the choice of the church. "Mutual election," says 
Increase Mather, in his sermon at the ordination of Mr. Appleton, 
"is that which doth essentiate the relation of a pastor to this or 
that particular church." Ordination is, therefore, the formal act 
confessing and ratifying this choice. — Ladd: Polity, p. 227. 

We are therefore brought again to the conclusion that ordina- 
tion gave, and still gives, ministerial authority and not power — 
authority to use gifts or powers for the benefit of the church, as 
its recognized office-bearers, but not itself conferring them. Rich- 
ard Hooker indeed has said, that "No man's gift or qualities can 
make him a minister in holy things, unless ordination do give him 
power." But gifts and qualities do give power: what they do not 
give is authority to minister in the congregation, which authority 
ordination supplies. — Jacob: Ecclesiastical Polity, p. 119. 

Authority from Below? When the question is put: "Must min- 
isterial character be in all cases conferred from above, or may it 
sometimes, and with equal validity, be evolved from below?" it 
appears to me that a fallacy lurks in the antithesis. "From below" 
is used in the sense "from the membership of the church," and the 
inference suggested by the contrast is that what comes "from be- 
low" — i. e., from the membership of the church — cannot come "from 
above" — i. e., cannot be of divine origin, warrant and authority. 
Why not? May the Holy Spirit not use the membership of the 
church as his instrument? Is there no real abiding presence of 
Christ among his people? Is not this promised Presence something 
which belongs to the sphere of God, and may it not be the source 
of an authority which is "from above." — Lindsay: The Church and 
the Ministry, p. 9. 

Power of Congregation. A Church Congregation is the first 
subject of the keys. Each Congregation compleatly constituted if 
all the Officers hath sufficient power in herself, to exercise the 
power of the keyes, and all Church Discipline, in all the censures 
thereof. 

Ordination is not election. There ought to be no ordination 
of a Minister at large, Namely, such as should make him Pastour 
without a People. 

The election of the people hath an instrumentall causall vertue 
under Christ, to give an outward call unto an Officer. 

Ordination is only a solemn installing of an Officer into the 
Office, unto which he was formerly called. — Thos. Hooker: Survey of 
the Summe of Church Discipline, London, 1648. 

Ordination. Our fathers reckoned ordination not to be essen- 
tial unto the vocation of a minister, any more than coronation to 
the being of a king; but that it is only a consequent and convenient 
adjunct of his vocation, and a solemn acknowledgment of it, with 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 211 

a useful and proper benediction of him in it. — Cotton Mather: Mag- 
nalia, Vol. Ill, pp. 242-243. 

It is plain that ordination presupposes an office constituted; does 
not constitute. Therefore it is not an act of power, but of order. — 
Thomas Hooker: Right and Power of Ordination. 

Ordination we account nothing else but the solemnly putting a 
man into his place and office in the Church, whereto he had right 
before by his election; being like the installing of a magistrate in 
the commonwealth. — Cambridge Platform, ix, 2, 4. 

And ordination of ministers is no more than swearing them to 
be faithful in that office. Their being furnished with grace and 
gifts for it is the most essential thing in the affair. — Isaac Backus: 
Baptist, Hist. N. E. Churches, p. 3, Phil, ed., 1853. 

The Church, the Christian society, existed in those faithful 
followers, even from the beginning, and will doubtless last unto the 
end. But even for years after the Lord's departure such a society 
existed without a separate order of clergy. — Stanley: Christ. Insti- 
tutions, p. 179. 

May a Local Church Ordain? In early Congregation- 
alism it was held that the local church had authority to 
ordain its own minister. Such ordination is no longer valid. 
The right of ordination passed from the local church to 
councils of churches, and has now passed also to Associa- 
tions, as permanent ordaining bodies. 

Power of Ordination. It is the practice to call in the aid of 
other churches; but it is not lawful nor convenient to call in such 
assistance by way of authority or power of ministers, or of other 
churches. — Richard Mather: Ch. Govt., p. 41. 

Ordination is a work of church power. The power of the keys 
is a liberty purchased to the church by the blood of Christ, and 
should not be parted with at a less price. On what ground shall 
presbyters censure a brother that is a member of another church? 
— John Cotton: Way of the Churches, 1. 

All jurisdiction should be confined to particular churches, in 
whose hands our Saviour hath left it. Nor may any particular 
churches deprive themselves of this power; for, in so doing, they 
would deprive themselves of a great trust. For, unless they have 
and keep this jurisdiction within themselves, they cannot faith- 
fully discharge various other duties which are required of them by 
Jesus Christ, their lawgiver. The powers and privileges of particu- 
lar churches are sacred things, by no means to be slighted and un- 
dervalued, nor to be left to the mercy of any classes, councils, 
synods, or general meetings. — Samuel Mather:. Apology, p. 20. 

Ordination by Church. People have a right to choose their own 
officers, and then install them into office. The right is primarily 
and solely in the church; and when ministers ordain, it is because 
they are invited and appointed by the church to do it. — Emmons: 
Platform of Eccl. Govt. 

Even Dr. Ross Held to Local Ordination. The local churches 



212 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

are the only organs of the Spirit provided for this work of ordina- 
tion. The church-kingdom chiefly manifests itself in and through 
them. They are the normal repositories of ecclesiastical power, 
and the only bodies on which such power was conferred for all 
time. They are chiefly affected by the ministry, and have conse- 
quently the highest reasons for keeping out of the ministry all 
whom the Lord has not qualified and called. Their conceded in- 
dependence involves the right and power of ordination. — Church 
Kingdom, p. 153. 

Ordination to the Unitarian ministry is theoretically by 
the local church, and the usage of that communion as set 
forth in the Unitarian Manual calls for the dissolution of 
the council after the vote approving the ordination. But 
not only is the right hand of fellowship extended by a 
member of the council, but it is definitely provided that the 
ordaining prayer should be offered by a minister in good 
standing. 

Calling a Pastor. The clerk of the parish may then read the 
record of the meeting at which the action calling the pastor elect 
was taken, the letter to the pastor elect containing the call, and 
his letter of acceptance, after which the candidate for ordination 
may be invited to make such statement as shall seem to him 
fitting regarding his education and professional equipment and his 
purpose of work and spirit of service. Then may be presented the 
formal motion for proceeding to the service of ordination, which 
may in substance be as follows: 

Voted, That this council approves the action of the 

„ church in calling the Rev to be 

its minister, and hereby appoints the Rev „ to 

extend the right hand of fellowship at the service of ordination. 

After the passing of this vote, the council shall be dissolved. 
The moderator of the council may introduce the public service of 
ordination by an announcement of this action on the part of the 
council. 

The service of ordination has its natural focus of significance in 
the prayer of ordination, and this should therefore be assigned al- 
ways to a minister whose standing in the Unitarian fellowship and 
dignity of personal character befit the responsibility of the ordain- 
ing function. The right hand of fellowship is in ordination ex- 
tended in behalf of the Christian ministry and the Unitarian fel- 
lowship; and the minister extending it should be, therefore, him- 
self in full fellowship and in active work of the ministry, and his 
words should be of simple welcome and congratulation. — Unitarian 
Handbook, pp. 31-32. 

All these eminent authorities were bound by the tradi- 
tion that the local church must be the ordaining power. 
Dr. Quint clearly saw the inadequacy of this usage. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 213 

Dr. Quint's Affirmation. It is manifest that no church can 
rightly assume to do, without consultation, what may affect the 
character and work of the churches in general. — A. H. Quint in 
Dunning's Congregationalists, p. 494. 

President Nash has clearly set forth what is now the 
accepted conception of the Congregational ministry. If a 
minister is to be ordained to a wider ministry than the 
pastorate of a local church, the churches as a body have an 
interest in his ordination ; and the attempt of a local church 
to create ministerial character for the whole denomination 
would be a usurpation incompatible with the larger inter- 
pretation of the ministry which has become inevitable in 
Congregationalism. 

A Minister Is Everywhere a Minister. A pastor doth Preach 
as a Minister, and Bless in the name of the Lord, as a Minister of 
His, wherever he may be occasionally called thereto. — Increase 
Mather: The Judgment of Several Eminent Divines, Boston, 1693, 
p. 2. 

A Minister in the Church Universal. A Minister chosen and set 
over one Society, is to looke unto his people committed to his 
charge, and feed the flock over which the Lord hath made him 
overseer, but he is a Minister in the Church Universall, for as the 
Church is one, so is the Ministry one, of which every minister 
(sound or Orthodox) doth hold his part, and though he be min- 
ister over that flock onely which he is to attend, yet he is a Min- 
ister in the Universal Church. The function or power of exercising 
that Function in the Abstract, must be distinguished from the 
power of exercising it, concretely, according to the divers circum- 
stances of places. The first belongeth to a Minister everywhere in 
the church, the latter is proper to the place and people where he 
doth minister. The lawful use of his power is limited to that con- 
gregation ordinarily. The power itself is not so limited and 
bounded. In Ordination, Presbyters are not restrained to one or 
other certaine place, as if they were to be deemed Ministers there 
onely, though they be set over a certain people. — John Davenport: 
Answer to the Elders, 1643. 

Pastoral Theory Inadequate. This pastoral theory became al- 
most at once in early New England too small to cover the facts. 
The churches held the ministry in higher esteem and administered 
it upon a larger view. Ordination became a social act., performed 
by representatives of the churches. The ordained man was con- 
sidered a minister beyond the bounds of his own parish, and his 
official acts properly ministerial wherever performed. In 1812 
the General Conference of Connecticut asserted that the ordained 
man remained amenable to discipline when out pi 2l pastorate. 
Repeated ordination to the ministry gave way to installation into 
the pastorate, already a different matter in Congregational eyes. 
Dismissal from a pastorate ceased to be deposition from the min- 



214 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

istry. The close of the last pastorate of a lifetime was not ipso 
facto departure from the ministry. — Nash: Cong. Administration, 
pp. 62-63. 

Responsible to the Welfare of All. That every particular con- 
gregation is absolute and independent, and not responsible to any 
higher power, is too lordly a principle: it is too ambitious a thing 
for every small congregation to arrogate such an uncontrolable 
power as to be accountable to none on earth. This is neither a 
probable way for the peace of the churches nor for the safety of 
church members. — Solomon Stoddard: The Doctrine of Instituted 
Churches, 1700, p. 27. 

Is Lay Ordination Valid? Lay ordination is not valid 
in modern Congregationalism. The local church can create 
its own ministry, can license one of its members to preach 
and administer the ordinances, but for admission to the 
general ministry of the Congregational churches there must 
be ordination by the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 

It is to be noted that even in the strictest days of Puri- 
tan rule it was maintained by many that while the authority 
for ordination resides in the local church, the act of ordina- 
tion must be performed by the ministry. Even John Rob- 
inson contended for this, so that while sometimes the early 
New England churches availed themselves of the right to 
ordain, they even then were accustomed to send letters 
missive to individual ministers asking them to perform the 
act of ordination. 

Congregational churches have always held that the 
church creates its ministry, and not the ministry the church. 
They have never admitted the right of a local church to 
create a ministry which should have ministerial standing in 
all the churches. The ordination of a minister is an event 
of more than local significance and involves a special char- 
acter not to be ordinarily transmitted through the act of 
laymen alone. There were a few instances in early New 
England history where a church set apart a minister by its 
own act, but this was not looked upon as regular. The 
most notable instance is that of the founding of the church 
in Woburn, as described by Captain Johnson, who himself 
participated in the event. 
The Wobum Case. The 22. of the 9. moneth following Mr. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 215 

Thomas Carter was ordained Pastor, in presence of the like As- 
sembly. After he had exercised in preaching and prayer the 
greater part of the day, two persons in the name of the Church 
laid their hands upon his head, and said, We ordain thee Thomas 
Carter to be Pastor unto this Church of Christ; then one of the 
Elders Priest (Present), being desired of the Church, continued in 
prayer unto the Lord for His more especial assistance of this His 
servant in His work, being a charge of such weighty importance, 
as is the glory of God and salvation of souls, that the very thought 
would make a man to tremble in the sense of His own inability to 
the Work. — Johnson: Wonder-Working Providence, p. 217. 

This course was strongly objected to at the time, as is 
evidenced in Winthrop's Journal: 

The village at the end of Charlestown was called Woburn, 
where they had gathered a church, and this day Mr. Carter was or- 
dained their pastor with the assistance of the elders of other 
churches. Some difference there was about his ordination; some 
advised, in regard they had no elder of their own, nor any mem- 
bers very fit to solemnize such an ordinance, they would desire 
some of the elders of the other churches to have performed it; but 
others supposing it might be an occasion of introducing a depend- 
ency of churches, etc., and so a presbytery, would not allow it. So 
it was performed by one of their own members, but not so well 
and orderly as it ought. — p. 88. 

There were several like instances in New England in 
the early days, but Cotton Mather, in his "Magnalia," de- 
clares the custom of ordination other than, by the presbytery 
as having in his time gone into disuse. It has never re- 
turned, and will not return, to use in Congregationalism. 
The local church chooses its minister, but a minister when 
ordained has a relation to all the churches and to the min- 
istry at large. Lay ordination is not, and for two hundred 
years has not been, regular in Congregationalism. 

Lay Ordination in Earlier Usage. In such churches where 
there are no elders, imposition of hands may be performed by 
some of the brethren orderly chosen by the church thereunto. For 
if the people may elect officers, which is the greater, and wherein 
the substance of the office consists, they may much more (occasion 
and need so requiring) impose hands in ordination, which is less, 
and but the accomplishment of the other. 

Nevertheless, in such churches where there are no elders, and 
the church so desire, we see not why imposition of hands may not 
be performed by the elders of other churches. Ordinary officers 
laid hands upon the officers of many churches: the presbytery at 
Ephesus laid hands upon Timothy, an evangelist; the presbytery 
at Antioch laid hands upon Paul and Barnabas. — Cambridge Plat- 
form, ix, 4, 5. 



216 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Besides, there is something very absurd in the supposition, that 
ordained ministers have the sole right of ordaining others. Upon 
this supposition, let a particular church be ever so pure and or- 
thodox, and choose an able and orthodox preacher to settle with 
them, they cannot have him for their pastor unless ministers are 
pleased to ordain him. This throws all the churches into the hands 
of ministers; and can we suppose that Christ meant to deprive 
churches of their inherent right to choose and install their own 
officers? — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt., iii, 3. 

Must Ministers Be Ordained by Ministers? Whereas they tie 
the Ordination of everie Minister, as it were, vnto the girdle of 
other ministers — that is, to laie a greater bondage vpon ye churches 
than they are able to bear. For admitt there be onlie one church in 
a nation, and they want a pastour: must they seeke over Sea and 
Lande to gett a minister ordained by other ministers? And is it 
not a dishonour to Jesus Christ the head of everie congregation 
which is his bodie: to say that his bodie together with the head is 
not able to be sustained and preserved in itself? — Harrison, Col- 
league of Robert Browne at Middlebury, 1583. 

Ordination by Ministers. The Scriptures in plain terms at- 
tribute the act of ordination to a presbytery, i. e., a company of 
elders. — Goodwin: Ch. Govt., p. 54. 

Divergence of Earlier Authorities. The views of the so-called 
authorities have differed upon this whole subject, from that of 
President Stiles, who says, "It was a mistaken notion of our 
fathers that the power of ordination was in the church by the 
elders,'* to that of Davenport, who declares, "Their ordination of 
officers ... is an act of the power of the keys residing in 
them"; from that of Ainsworth, who maintains, "That ministers of 
one particular church should ordain elders for another church is 
more unorderly than when every church ordaineth them itself," to 
the opposite opinion of Increase Mather, who supposes lay-ordina- 
tion valid indeed, but, when elders may be attained, not decent. — 
Ladd: Principles of Church Polity, p. 231. 

Is Ordination to Be Performed on Sunday? It may be 
so performed. It is not customary or advisable that ordina- 
tion should take place on Sunday where a council is to be 
convened on that day, but either a council or an Association 
having conducted an examination upon a week day may 
set the public service of ordination upon the Sabbath, and 
appoint members who shall perform the public service in 
the name of the council or Association. Such persons have 
no power to modify or add to the instructions of council 
or Association under which they act. 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 217 

May a Missionary Society Ordain a Missionary? A 
missionary society may not ordain a missionary. In the 
earlier years of the American Board it was the custom of 
the Prudential Committee to call ordaining councils, but 
this practice was disapproved and ceased. There were also 
a few cases in which individual missionaries called councils 
for their own ordination, but this was highly objectionable. 
Dr. Anderson, Secretary of the American Board, in 1856, 
thus described the custom of the Board : 

At first, and for some time, the Prudential Committee were ac- 
customed to call the ordaining council. But, for many years past, 
the whole matter of ordination has been left with the candidate 
to arrange with the church to which he belongs, or with some 
other church to which he sustains a providential relation. The let- 
ters missive are issued in the name of the church, inviting sister- 
churches to come, with their pastors, and ordain the candidate, if 
they think proper, as a missionary to the heathen. Where cir- 
cumstances have been peculiar, the candidate has himself some- 
times communicated his wishes, by letter, to certain pastors and 
churches, and asked them to assemble and ordain him, in case they 
saw no objection. 

There might still be an emergency in which a foreign 
missionary society could call a council for the ordination 
of a missionary. Such a case would be the ordination of 
the son of foreign missionary parents, whose own birth and 
church membership were in a foreign land, and who, re- 
turning to this country, desired ordination before his return. 
In such a case the American Board, representing the Con- 
gregational fellowship of churches in foreign lands, might 
call a council, but under no ordinary circumstances should 
this be done. The initiative in the matter of ordination 
should be with the local church. It is to be noted, however, 
that in the above supposed case, although a missionary 
society might call a council, the ordination would not be 
performed by the society, but by the council of churches. 

Does Ordination Create the Right to Preach? Ordina- 
tion does not create the right to preach. That right belongs 
to every member of the church. Nor does it create the 
particular and special right involved in a call to the min- 
istry. That right is conferred by the Head of the Church. 



218 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

But ordination is an official and orderly recognition on the 
part of the church, guided by the Spirit, of the gift con- 
ferred by Christ. It is thus the right of the church to say: 
"It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." 

Liberty of Prophesying, The apostolical institution did not or- 
dain that a particular individual, and he a stipendiary, should have 
the sole right of speaking from a higher place, but that each be- 
liever in turn be authorized to speak. Women are, however, en- 
joined to keep silence in the churches. — John Milton: Christian 
Doctrine, ii, 203, 204. 

Discreet, faithful, and able men, (though) not yet in the min- 
istry, may preach the gospel and the whole truth of God. — Apology 
of Engl. Ch. in Amsterdam. 

All men have not only the liberty, but are also to desire, that 
they may prophesy, i. e., speak to the church to edification, which 
is to be coveted rather than other spiritual gifts. — Ainsworth: 
Communion of Saints, in Hanbury, i, 281. 

We believe that the sober, discreet, orderly, and well-governed 
exercise of expounding and applying the Holy Scriptures in the 
congregation, by the apostle called prophesying, and allowed by 
him to every other understanding member of the church but 
women, is lawful now, convenient, profitable, yea, sometimes very 
necessary also in divers respects. — Jacob: Confession, Act xviii. 

Cotton Mather did not reckon ordination to be essential unto 
the vocation of a minister, any more than coronation to the being 
of a king: it is but a convenient adjunct of his vocation, and a 
solemn acknowledgement of it, with an useful and proper bene- 
diction of him in it. — John Keep: Congregationalism and Church 
Action, p. 31. 

The Right to Preach. One's right to preach does not depend 
on the call of a local church, or on ordination, or on regular stand- 
ing, but on the commission of Christ, the Head and King. How 
much less then is the ministry an official relation in a local church, 
as was once held by the New England churches (Cambridge Plat- 
form, ch. ix, 7). This narrow view has been supplanted by the bet- 
ter and normal view of the ministry (Boston Platform, Part IV, 
i, 1). The churches do not create the ministry; they only recog- 
nize it. He whom the Master calls is the true minister; but he 
whom the churches call may be still a layman. The power of the 
keys is for recognizing the true ministry, and regulating their 
standing for the good of the churches; but the power to create 
and silence is not theirs, although generally good order requires 
acquiescence in their action. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 137. 

Must Ordination Be to the Pastorate of a Particular 
Church? In early Congregationalism it was maintained 
that ordination must invariably be to the pastorate of a 
designated local church and that his standing as a minister 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 219 

terminated on his resignation of the pastorate of that 
church. This is no longer the usage of the denomination, 
and ceased to be good Congregationalism when installation 
ceased to be re-ordination. 

Ordination Not Inauguration into the Pastorate. Ordination is 
the ecclesiastical recognition of the ministerial function of the 
church-kingdom as that function appears in individuals called by 
Jesus Christ to preach the Word. It is not therefore primarily 
and fundamentally an inauguration into the pastoral office, as the 
New England fathers made it, but into the ministry of the Word, 
The function is wider than the pastoral office; "it includes as well 
all evangelistic and missionary labors; and so ordination is to the 
ministry, which is as wide in its scope as the wants of the church 
and the work of Christ. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 152. 

May an Evangelist Be Ordained? The ordination of an 
evangelist is a matter calling for more conservative action 
than the ordination of a foreign missionary. The missionary 
is still responsible to the churches through the organization 
which he serves. There are men who have an undoubted 
call to serve the churches in the capacity of evangelists, 
but every man so ordained should be considered as in a 
special sense answerable to the Association of which he 
is a member, and if he employs his membership in the 
Association for the mere purpose of having a point of depar- 
ture and conducts himself as if in no respect answerable to 
it he should be considered guilty of irregular conduct. From 
the beginning our churches have felt the need of caution 
in the ordination of evangelists. 

The evangelist should be particularly conscientious in 
his relations to the local church of which he is a member 
and to the Association to which that church belongs, other- 
wise his ministry would become practically irresponsible. 

May a Woman Be Ordained? In the early centuries, of 
Congregationalism only men were ordained to the gospel 
ministry, and this continues to be the general rule among 
our churches. There are manifest reasons why women 
should not ordinarily be ordained as ministers of the gos- 
pel. We have no law, however, which prevents ordination 
of a woman under circumstances which clearly indicate her 



220 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

providential call and usefulness in the Christian ministry. 
There have been several cases in which women have been 
ordained. 

Women's Rights, Robinson, in his Reply to Bernard, enu- 
merates, among their ecclesiastical rights, making profession of 
faith and confession of sin; saying amen to the church's prayers; 
singing psalms vocally; accusing a brother of sin; witnessing an 
accusation, or defending themselves being accused; and, where no 
man will, reproving the church rather than it should go on in sin. 
He holds them debarred from voting and ordinary prophesying 
(i. e., publicly expounding and exhorting), but not from simple 
speaking. Ainsworth, in his Reply to Clyfton, says: "And although 
woman, in regard to her sex, may not speak or teach in the 
church, yet with other women, and in her private family, she 
openeth her mouth in wisdom, and the doctrine of grace is on her 
tongue. Miriam was a guide to the women of Israel, and Priscilla 
helped to expound the way of God more perfectly to Apollos." 
Robinson advocates the same in his Letter to the Church in Lon- 
don. The Synod in Boston, in 1637, condemned the proceeding of 
a public meeting, where some sixty or more were present weekly; 
and one woman took upon her the whole exercise in a prophetical 
way. Isaac Chauncy, in his Divine Institution of Congregational 
Churches, says: "Women may not speak or exercise authority in 
the church." Eliot, in his Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts, 
says Cotton would not consent that his wife should make an open 
confession of her faith, when she joined the church, considering it 
as against modesty; but she was examined by the elders. — Cum- 
mings: Cong. Diet., Women's Rights. 

Is Public Service of Ordination Necessary? It was 

contended by early reformers even in the Episcopal 
church and generally by Congregationalists that no public 
act of ordination was necessary, but it was always recog- 
nized as appropriate. Private ordination without public 
recognition they did not count valid, not because the public 
act of ordination was considered spiritually indispensable, 
but because it was recognized as an appropriate, dignified, 
solemn and practically necessary recognition of the right 
of the church in an act that concerns the whole body of 
believers. 

Is Laying on of Hands Necessary? The imposition of 
hands in ordination is a time-honored custom which ought 
by no means to be omitted in the consecration of a min- 
ister of the gospel. Even if, as many of the early Congre- 
gationalists contended, the original form of the act was the 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 221 

stretching out or the uplifting of the hand in voting, the 
form from New Testament times onward has been well 
established and for generations has been practically univer- 
sal. A minister who had conscientious scruples against 
the receiving of the laying on of hands but whose ordina- 
tion otherwise was orderly and public and certified by 
council or Association, could not be declared destitute of 
ministerial standing; his ordination would be counted as 
irregular but not invalid. 

Laying on of Hands, There is no command that this practice 
be continued in the churches, but there is a pleasant fitness in it 
which will secure its continuance to the world's end. And — on 
the whole — Milton has well rendered the sense of the Bible con- 
cerning it, where he says, "as for ordination, what is it, but the 
laying on of hands, an outward sign or symbol of admission? It 
creates nothing, it confers nothing; it is the inward calling of God 
that makes a minister, and his own painful study and diligence that 
matures and improves his ministerial gifts." — Dexter: Congrega- 
tionalism, p. 141; Milton: Prose Works, Bonn's Ed., iii, p. 78. 

The way of ordaining officers ... is, after their election by 
the suffrage of the church, to set them apart with fasting and 
prayer, and imposition of the hands of the eldership of the church, 
though, if there be no imposition of hands, they are rightly con- 
stituted ministers of Christ. — Savoy Synod. 

Who May Impose Hands? Those who laid hands on 
Barnabas and Saul, sending them forth as- missionaries 
from the church at Antioch, represented not the ministry 
but the church (Acts 13: 1-3). The general custom, how- 
ever, in the Acts of the Apostles was the laying on of 
hands by the presbytery, that is, by the elders or pastors. 
The rule in Congregationalism is not that the minister 
creates the church, but that the church creates its ministry, 
for the local church having called a council or Association 
to perform the act of ordination very properly recognizes 
and indeed must recognize the right of the churches repre- 
sented in the ministers present to ordain to the ministry 
by the laying on of hands. 

Ordination by the People. If the apostacy be so general that 
there are not anywhere to be found any true elders, yet then hath 
the church . . . power to ordain their ministers by the most fit 
members and means they have. — Barrowe: Answer to Gifford in 
Hanbury, i, 58. 



222 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The Confession of the Low Country Exiles., says: Every Chris- 
tian congregation hath power and commandment to elect and or- 
dain their own ministry. — Confession of Low Country Exiles, 
art. iii. 

That ministers of one particular church should ordain elders 
for another church is more unorderly than when every church or- 
daineth them itself. — Ainsworth: Reply to Johnson. 

Their ordination of officers, by deputing some out of their 
own body thereunto ... in a want of officers, is an act of this 
power of the keys residing in them. — John Davenport: Power of 
Congregational Churches. 

Where elders cannot conveniently be borrowed from any other 
church, imposition of hands may lawfully be performed by some 
principal men of the congregation, though they be not elders by 
office. — Richard Mather: Answer to Herle. 

Is Ordination Valid if Obtained under Fraud? It is, 

provided the ordaining body possessed the right to ordain, 
and intended to ordain, but the discovery of the fraud should 
result in the immediate filing of charges against the minister 
guilty of the fraud, and in his deposition from the ministry. 
Until he is deposed, however, all acts performed by him in 
his ministerial capacity have the same validity as if his ordi- 
nation had been regular. 

Is Ordination Performed by a Packed Council Valid? 
Whether an ordination is valid when performed by a small 
council and one manifestly not representative of the 
churches, is often a difficult question. If the council has 
been regularly called, and the church calling the council 
is satisfied and accepts its finding, it is difficult to disprove 
a valid ordination. But such ordination does not compel 
an Association to accept the man so ordained as a Con- 
gregational minister, nor can he secure ministerial standing 
without membership in an Association. 

Is There a Distinction Between Invalid and Irregular 
Ordination? There is. An ordination performed by a body 
possessing no ecclesiastical right to ordain, is invalid. An 
ordination performed in good faith by a council, of which it 
might be discovered years afterward that a quorum was 
lacking, would be irregular ; but if upon the strength of it 
the minister had received membership in an Association and 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 223 

had continued in good faith to perform the functions of the 
ministry, the ordination could not be regarded as invalid. 

In the case of a Congregational minister coming from 
another body, whose forms were not wholly like our own, 
the question once was raised whether a certain minister 
should be regarded as having been ordained or only licensed. 
The Association receiving him to membership considered 
that he had been ordained, and he was received as an 
ordained minister and has made good proof of his ministry. 
A more careful inquiry probably would have shown that 
he should have been regarded as a licentiate and there- 
fore should have been ordained. In his case it cannot be 
maintained that his ordination was invalid, though it was 
irregular. 

A prominent English Baptist clergyman, who had been 
ordained by the vote of a local church and without the 
laying on of hands, was called first to a prominent Baptist 
church in New York City and after awhile to a large Con- 
gregational church upon the Pacific Coast. The council 
for his installation developed the fact that his ordination 
had not been in accordance with the forms of our Congre- 
gational usage. He was nevertheless installed as pastor 
and became a full member of the District Association. His 
ordination must be regarded as irregular, but not by any 
means invalid. 

Are Ministerial Orders Indelible? The doctrine of the 
indelibility of orders has never found favor in Congrega- 
tionalism. The Church can confer orders, and by the same 
authority can revoke them. 

Orders. We have no such indelible character imprinted on a 
minister, that he must needs be so forever, because he once was so. 
His ministry ceasing, the minister ceaseth also. — New England 
Elders: Neal: History of the Puritans, i, p. 150. 

What authority has he to minister to any church, if they will 
not hear him? — Allin and Shepard: in Hanbury, iii, p. 42. 

He that is clearly loosed from his office-relation to that church 
whereof he was a minister, cannot be looked at as an officer, nor 
perform any act of office in any other church, unless he be again 
called to office. — Cambridge Platform, ch. ix, sec. 7. 



224 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

We have no concernment in the figment of an indelible char- 
acter . . . yet we do not leave the ministry when we go from 
home. — John Owen: in Mather's Magnalia. 

Is an Ordinance Valid if the Minister Who Performs It 
Proves Unworthy? An ordinance administered by a Con- 
gregational minister in good standing is not rendered in- 
valid if he prove unworthy. The character of the act is not 
rendered nugatory by the unworthiness of the man who 
performs it. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that 
the glory may be of God and not of men. 

An unordained person pretending to an ordination which 
he has not received cannot perform valid acts as a minister 
of the gospel, and is liable to fine and imprisonment by the 
civil courts for marriages attempted to be performed by 
him. 

May Congregational Churches Provide for Limited 
Ordination? In the case of a man of Christian character 
and fair ability, but of limited training, called to the pas- 
torate of a mission church which he is qualified to serve 
although unqualified for the general ministry, an act of 
limited ordination would be entirely valid. Such ordination 
is unusual, but there is no good reason why it should not 
be practiced and made conditional upon a minister's con- 
tinuing in a certain field and pursuing certain courses of 
study subject to the direction of his Association. Should 
he be called to another field, which in the judgment of the 
Association he ought to accept, he could be transferred 
with like conditions to the Association in whose bounds 
he is to labor. Should he make such progress as in the 
judgment of the Association would warrant his complete 
recognition as a minister of the gospel, the conditions could 
be removed. 

A certificate of ordination for such a minister might be 
substantially in the following form: 

To the Congregational Church in - 

Greeting: 

The Council convened by your call in letters missive dated 
19 , has examined Mr with 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 225 

reference to his Christian experience, education, and call to preach, 
and rejoices to find in him an earnest and faithful man, with gifts 
that in some respects would qualify him for the work of the minis- 
try, but lacking in that degree of preparation which would justify 
the council in an unlimited ordination. Believing, however, that 
your call to him is the call of God to preach to this congregation, 
and administer the sacraments in this place, we hereby ordain him 
to the gospel ministry, and recommend him to the oversight and 

fellowship of the Congregational Association, 

of which your church is a member, to which body he shall present 
a copy of this certificate, and pursue under its direction such 
other further studies as it shall require, which we recommend shall 
extend over not less than three years. 

This certificate is limited to one year from its date, and good 
only within the bounds of this Association, and may be renewed 
from year to year at the pleasure of the said Association on satis- 
factory proof that he has met the conditions herein imposed. At 
the end of each annual examination before said Association, this 
certificate shall have endorsed upon it such approval and further 
extension as the said Association shall deem wise; and at the end 
of not less than three years may be recalled and for it substituted 
a certificate of ordination without the limitations contained in this 
certificate. 

If before the expiration of this certificate he shall remove from 
the bounds of this Association, this certificate shall not be valid 
as a certificate of ordination, but he may receive a certificate or let- 
ter of commendation as a candidate for the ministry, with a state- 
ment of the progress which he shall then have made toward the 
removal of the conditions herein contained. 

Wishing grace, mercy and peace to you and to him, and ex- 
horting you to assist him in making full proof of his ministry, we 
are, in Christian fellowship, 

For the Council, 

Moderator. 

Scribe. 
19 

Such a plan would have very much to commend it. It 
would save us from some very unhappy experiences. It 
might enable us to use some men to whom now we are 
constrained to refuse ordination. 

How May a Minister of Another Denomination Become 
Congregational? A minister in another denomination may 
become Congregational by taking successively all of the 
following steps: 

First, by securing an honorable dismission from ecclesi- 
astical relationships with other denominations; secondly, 
by becoming a member of a local Congregational church ; 



226 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

thirdly, by uniting with a Congregational Association, to 
whom he must submit full proof of his ministerial standing. 

Congregational churches have received some of their 
ablest and foremost ministers from other denominations, 
and have shown great hospitality in admitting them ad 
eundem wherever their standing in other evangelical bodies 
has been co-ordinate with our own. We have had abundant 
warnings, however, which justify a word of caution about 
receiving unknown men until all their credentials are in 
hand and their record has been thoroughly investigated. 

Should a Minister Received from Another Denomination 
Be Re-ordained? A minister received from another denom- 
ination bringing with him credentials certifying to his reg- 
ular ordination and good standing in a denomination whose 
interpretation of the functions of the ministry accords with 
that of the Congregational churches, should not be re-or- 
dained; but if he comes from a denomination whose own 
interpretation of the functions of the ministry does not 
constitute him a minister of the Church of Christ, he should 
be re-ordained. 

In the case of a minister who has been ordained in a 
denomination whose doctrinal views are different than 
those of Congregational churches, but whose theory of the 
ministry is essentially the same, he should not be re-or- 
dained, but the council or Association should thoroughly 
satisfy itself of his doctrinal soundness before he is received 
as a Congregational minister. 

Re-ordination. Ministers coming from England were usually 
re-ordained; but, some of them scrupling, the churches have 
elected them and embraced them, and so, solemnizing the trans- 
action with fasting and prayer, have enjoyed them to all evangeli- 
cal intents and purposes, without their being re-ordained at all. — 
Cotton Mather: Magnalia, ii, 209. 

May a Congregational Minister Join Another Denom- 
ination? A Congregational minister may for good cause 
unite with another denomination and receive a letter of 
dismission in good standing and fellowship. Under the plan 
of union adopted in 1801, Congregational and Presbyterian 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 227 

ministers have been permitted to pass freely from one de- 
nomination to the other, and the same freedom to an extent 
hardly less is enjoyed between Congregational and certain 
other denominations. 

Is Membership in an Association Necessary to Minis- 
terial Character? Membership in an Association is not 
essential to ministerial character, but is essential to good 
standing in the Congregational ministry. 

How Is Ministerial Standing Maintained? In order to 
maintain ministerial standing a Congregational minister 
must continue membership in a Congregational church and 
in a Congregational Association, and must continue to 
maintain good Christian character and be faithful to the 
work of the ministry. 

How Is Ministerial Standing Impaired? Ministerial 
standing may be impaired : 

(a) By the termination of membership in the local 
church. 

(b) By the termination of membership in a Congrega- 
tional Association. 

(c) By any act adjudged either by the local church or 
by the Association of which he is a member to be incon- 
sistent with his standing as a Christian minister. 

The anomaly of ministerial standing residing in Asso- 
ciations of ministers, and not of ministers and churches, is 
apparent. Dr. George M. Boynton, after noting that in 
some of the New England states the Association of min- 
isters, an entirely irresponsible body, certifies the list of 
its members to the Year Book, justly remarks : 

And yet it does not seem right that a minister, who is a. mem- 
ber in good standing of a Congregational church, and who has 
been admitted to the ministry by an ecclesiastical council repre- 
senting the fellowship of churches, should lose his place on the 
official record by the action of a professional club or association; 
and this appears the more so, since there is no higher authority 
in the states where the ministerial Association is responsible for 
furnishing the list by which his name can be restored. — Congrega- 
tional Way. p. 140. 

Is There a Distinction Between Ministerial Standing 



228 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

and the Ministerial Function? There is a difference be- 
tween ministerial standing and ministerial character. A 
man who is ordained to the ministry by competent ecclesi- 
astical authority attains to ministerial character by virtue 
of his ordination, but the question of his ministerial stand- 
ing still remains to be determined. He may be ordained a 
Methodist, and by that ordination he has ministerial char- 
acter among Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, 
and all other Christian bodies who recognize the validity 
of Methodist ordination, but he has ministerial standing in 
the Methodist church only. If he becomes pastor of a Con- 
gregational church his name is starred or bracketed in the 
Year Book, for he has no standing as a Congregational min- 
ister until he becomes a member of a Congregational Asso- 
ciation. 

He is quite competent to perform all functions of a valid 
ministry, to administer the ordinances and to solemnize 
marriages, and he retains his standing in the Methodist 
church until he terminates his relationship there and trans- 
fers his standing to the Congregational denomination. After 
he has become a Congregational minister in good standing 
he loses his standing as a Methodist minister, but does not 
lose his ministerial character among Methodists. He is 
still recognized by Methodists in any ministerial act which 
he may be called upon to perform. 

This distinction is important, and somewhat increasingly 
so, in view of recent developments in our Congregational 
polity. 

It was formerly held that membership in a Congrega- 
tional Association had nothing to do with ministerial stand- 
ing, but this contention, long growing into desuetude, be- 
came thoroughly obsolete under the ruling of the National 
Council in 1886. That ruling, which was not legislative, 
registered effectually the judgment of the denomination 
that ministerial standing in the Congregational denomina- 
tion requires three things : First, membership in a Congre- 
gational church; second, ordination by a competent ecclesi- 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 229 

astical authority; third, membership in a Congregational 
Association. 

Under the long since obsolete interpretation of the min- 
istry maintained for generations in New England, that a 
minister became a minister by action of Council when 
ordained and installed over a church, and ceased to be a 
minister when dismissed by a council from the pastorate of 
the church, ministerial standing and ministerial character 
were identical. But when Congregationalism extended itself 
beyond the bounds of New England this theory of the min- 
istry became untenable and the denomination fell into the 
inconsistent practice of separating ministerial standing and 
ministerial character by vesting the former in an associa- 
tion and permitting the latter to remain in the council of 
Churches, a temporary and evanescent body. Deposition 
from the ministry became possible only by the convening 
of a new council called for the purpose of considering 
charges preferred. As a result, there are notable instances 
of ministers adjudged immoral and expelled from associa- 
tions who continue to exercise all ministerial functions. 
The action of the National Council of 1886, in defining min- 
isterial standing, lacked completeness in not also defining 
ministerial character. 

The development of our denominational life in time 
made it plain that the body responsible for ministerial 
standing, namely, the Association, must have authority to 
create ministerial character. The National Council in ses- 
sion at Cleveland in 1907 definitely recognized the validity 
of ordination by Association. One by one the District 
Associations are assuming this prerogative, and, either by 
acting as ordaining bodies or by insisting upon their repre- 
sentation in councils held within their territorial bounds, 
are guarding the door of entrance to the Congregational 
ministry. Through the Association the churches are saying 
that if the Association must assume responsibility for min- 
isters when ordained, the Association must affirm the right 
to be consulted and on occasion to participate in the act of 



230 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ordination itself. Thus it has come about and it has been 
recognized as good Congregational usage that District 
Associations confer not merely ministerial standing, but 
ministerial character. 

There is one further inevitable logical corollary, namely, 
that if a Congregational Association can confer ministerial 
character it can also terminate it. 

A new order of things began with the National Council 
of 1907. The Chicago Association, in adopting its new 
constitution, gave frank recognition to this change and 
wrought into its organic law a stipulation that any minister 
who then was or might thereafter become a member of 
that Association held his ministerial standing in that body 
under the condition that if the Association should expel him 
he must cease to be a minister of the Gospel. To this posi- 
tion Congregational usage must now speedily adjust itself. 
A minister suspended by an Association loses for the time 
being his ministerial standing, but a minister expelled from 
the Association loses also his ministerial character. He has 
no authority to administer the sacraments and is liable to 
prosecution if he solemnizes a marriage. This interpreta- 
tion is independent of the manner of his ordination, whether 
by an independent Council of Churches or by an Associa- 
tion, whether within our own fellowship or at the hands of 
another denomination body. It is the logical outcome of 
the National Council pronouncement on ministerial stand- 
ing in 1886. 

This inevitable step, recognizing the right of an associa- 
tion to depose an unworthy minister, was taken by the 
National Council at New Haven in 1915, in its resolutions 
in response to a memorial from the State Conference of 
Illinois. These resolutions which were unanimously adopted 
and have thus become the authoritative rule for the compila- 
tion of ministerial names for the Year Book are as follows : 

The National Council Resolutions on the Illinois Memorial. 

Your Committee on Memorials have had placed in their hands for 
their consideration two memorials from the Illinois Conference. 
The Memorial designated A has reference to Ministerial Standing 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 231 

and Character and has regard to the present inadequate definition 
of the status of ministers from whom fellowship has been with- 
drawn by District Associations. Your Committee are in entire 
accord with the purport of this report and the intent of its resolu- 
tion, and submit the following preamble and resolution, and rec- 
ommend that they be affirmed by this Council: 

"Whereas, The National Council has affirmed that the minis- 
terial standing of an ordained man is completed and constituted 
only by membership in a District Association or State Conference 
and is sustained by the maintenance of such membership. 

"It Is Therefore Voted, That the loss of such membership for 
good and sufficient cause is the loss of ministerial standing; that 
no further action, such as technical deposition, is required for ter- 
minating a man's ministerial character, and that one who has this 
lost ministerial standing and character should no longer be recog- 
nized as a minister or employed by our churches, and his name 
shall not appear in the Year Book." 

As germane to the foregoing resolution, and as an essential 
corollary, your Committee also recommend the adoption of the 
following resolution: 

"That a minister who has been suspended from membership in 
a District Association or State Conference should not be permitted 
to exercise the functions of the ministry during the period of his 
suspension." 

May a Congregational Minister Demit His Office? A 

Congregational minister retiring from the ministry to enter 
secular business may demit the office of the ministry. The 
steps in this process are the following: 

(i) The resignation of his pastorate, if he be a pastor, 
together with the orderly termination of said pastorate by 
council, if he has been installed by council. 

(2) A request made in person or by writing to the 
Association of which he is a member that his membership 
in said Association terminate and that he be given a certifi- 
cate that his ministerial standing ceases at his own request 
and in orderly manner. 

(3) A vote of the Association granting him dismission. 
The notice of his dismission may be essentially the fol- 
lowing form : 

The Congregational Association to Rev 

, Greeting : 

Dear Brother: This is to certify that at a regular meeting of 

Association, held , 19 , your 

request for dismission in order that you might enter into other 
business than the ministry was duly presented, and you, being at 
the time in good standing as a member of this body, were at your 



232 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

own request affectionately dismissed and relieved from further re- 
sponsibility as a minister of the gospel. 

Yours in Christian fellowship, 



Registrar. 

Should a Demitted Minister Be Re-ordained? A min- 
ister who has demitted his ministry and who desires again 
to preach should not be re-ordained. He should, however, 
be fully examined by the Association within whose bounds 
he proposes to labor and for membership in which he ap- 
plies, giving a full statement of his reasons for withdrawing 
from the ministry and his desire to return. 

For instance, a minister whose health has compelled 
him to seek other employment with no thought of returning 
to the ministry may find his health restored in later years; 
and he, discovering a need of his service in some particular 
field, may desire to take up again the work of the ministry. 
He should be required to show that during the period in 
which he has engaged in secular business he has maintained 
a reputation not inconsistent with his re-entering the min- 
istry, and that there is a providential call for him now to 
reassume its duties. The Association, acting on the request 
of the local church of which he is a member, or that which 
he is to serve, or both, may reinstate him without re-ordina- 
tion. 

Should Ministers in Secular Business Retain Ministerial 
Standing? Ministers who enter secular business should not 
retain ministerial standing. Editing of a religious news- 
paper or teaching in a Christian school, or acting as secre- 
tary or agent of an accredited religious organization, is not 
to be regarded as a secular employment. But a commercial 
enterprise should not be permitted to derive any secular 
advantage from the use of a ministerial title. No minister 
should use the title, Reverend, upon a letter head or busi- 
ness card employed to promote a secular business ; and any 
minister who does so may properly be disciplined by the 
Association of which he is a member. 

The foregoing principles do not, however, apply to a 



THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY 233 

minister earning his daily bread by farming or other worthy 
methods and giving such portion of his time as he is able 
to work that is distinctly religious. The Association can 
and should discriminate between the tent-making minister 
honorably earning his support in order that he may freely 
give his service to the churches, and the shrewd advertiser 
laboring for his own commercial gain and using his min- 
isterial title as an advertisement. In the case of the latter 
person it should not hesitate to request him either to with- 
draw from secular business and devote his time to the min- 
istry, or to demit his membership in the Association. 

What Is the Duty of a Minister Temporarily Out of 
Ministerial Work? The case of a minister not in active 
service, but who regards his own withdrawal as temporary 
and who in the meantime engages in secular pursuits, is 
often a perplexing one. Such a minister, if he continues to 
maintain a reputation consistent with ministerial standing, 
may still continue his membership in the Association and 
his standing in the ministry. In any business into which 
he enters he should refrain from the use of the title, Rev- 
erend, and should carefully avoid any appearance of using 
his ministerial office for purposes of traffic, or of bringing 
the ministry into contempt. 

What Is the Status of a Retired Minister? Ministers 
who have retired from active service by reason of age, in- 
firmity or other honorable cause, retain their ministerial 
standing. This, however, does not apply to ministers who 
demit their ministry in order to enter into secular business. 

What Is the Status of Unemployed Ministers? Min- 
isters who have not demitted their ministry but are unem- 
ployed because no man hired them and who temporarily 
are engaged in worthy vocations other than the ministry, 
do not lose their ministerial standing. 

Ministers Without Pastoral Charge. Fit men not bearing office 
in any church, but giving themselves to the work of preaching, 
have always been recognized among us as ministers of the Word. 
The ministry, therefore, includes all who are called of God to 



2 34 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

preach the gospel and are set apart to that work by ordination. — 
oston Platform, xviii, i, 1. 

May There Be Distinctions in the Congregational Min- 
istry? As the organization of the church life grows more 
complex it is both suitable and profitable that the work of 
the ministry should become more specialized. Some min- 
isters are by gifts and training fitted for special work of 
instruction or administration and may be called by the 
church as teachers, editors, or home missionary superin- 
tendents, and these positions may be properly designated 
by any suitable term. But each position thus created is an 
office, not an order, and gives to him who holds it no right 
or title above that of any other Congregational minister. 
Every Congregational pastor is by virtue of his office the 
peer of every other Congregational pastor. Such distinc- 
tions as may arise belong only to differences in gifts, char- 
acter, ability or training, and not to the authority of one 
pastor or church official to exercise authority over any other 
pastor or his church. Even if the limited ordination which 
is suggested in a previous section should come into general 
acceptance, the minister so ordained would be, in the 
church or territory designated, and for the period of his 
ordination, the peer of every other Congregational minister. 



XV. THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 

What Constitutes a Congregational Pastor? A Congre- 
gational pastor is an elder, presbyter, and bishop, who, 
being or having been ordained to the work of the gospel 
ministry, is called by a particular church to be its pastor, 
and having accepted that call, and being or becoming a 
member of that church, is recognized in the relation of 
pastor by a formal act of the local church. The pastorate 
may be constituted, with or without the concurrent action 
of a council of the churches of the vicinage, or by the 
District Association to which the church belongs. 

An ordination requires the concurrent action of the 
churches of the vicinage. Such concurrence is appropriate 
but not indispensable in the settlement of a minister already 
ordained. 

The Pastoral Office. The New Testament idea of a Christian 
church is of a brotherhood guided and led by one of its own mem- 
bers, in whom all have so much confidence and love as to entrust 
him, under Christ, with the responsibility of the pastoral office; — 
one whose interests will be identical with theirs, and who will 
"dwell among his own people"; who will be such a shepherd of 
the flock that the sheep will follow him because they know his 
voice. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own 
the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep 
and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 
The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for 
the sheep. The more feeble a flock may be, the more it needs the 
tender care of a shepherd, who loves it because it is his own, and 
who is even willing to give his life for the sheep. And the more 
feeble a church may be, the more it needs the service of a pastor; 
who will make its lot his own, who is willing to spend and be 
spent for it, who is not mainly occupied in looking out for a better 
place for himself elsewhere, but whose whole soul is intent upon 
the growth in grace of the people of God and the conversion of 
sinners there. — Dexter: Congregationalism, pp. 152, 153. 

How Is a Pastor Called? A minister is called to be the 
pastor of a church by specific vote of the church according 
to the method prescribed in its constitution or rules. The 
call should be duly certified by the clerk of the church, and, 
if a pastoral committee is appointed, by the committee also. 
If there is a society or parish in connection with the church, 



236 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the concurrent vote of the society or parish is necessary 
to make the call effective. The parish or society cannot of 
itself issue a call, but may defeat the call of the church by 
refusing to concur or by failure to provide means for carry- 
ing out the will of the church. The call having been duly 
extended should be formally made out in writing, and cer- 
tified, and sent to the pastor elect. If he is not already 
ordained, the call should include an invitation to him to 
join the church in calling a council or a meeting of the 
Association for ordination. If he is to be installed or recog- 
nized, the call should ask his concurrence in the call of the 
council or invitation of the Association for this purpose. 
The call may state the date at which the church desires 
the pastoral relation to begin, but the privilege of fixing 
that date belongs to the pastor elect, who in accepting the 
call must first provide for orderly dismission from his pres- 
ent pastorate or other duties in order to consummate a 
beginning of his new relationship. The methods of recog- 
nizing the pastor's relation to the church will be treated 
under the general headings of Councils and Associations. 

The Pastor a Member. There is a seasonable care taken, that, 
if the candidate were a member of some other church, he have his 
dismission (his relation declared to be transferred); that, as near 
as may be, according to the primitive direction, they may choose 
from among themselves. — C. Mather: Ratio Disc, p. 22. 

The person called ought to be a member; for to constitute a 
non-member in office is contrary to the rules of any corporate 
society. None can be an officer of a corporation, but he that is 
incorporate first as a member. — Isaac Chauncy: Divine Inst. Cong. 
Chs., p. 65. 

Hearing Candidates. The most foolish, and perhaps the easiest 
way, is to open the pulpit to a succession of candidates to be heard 
and compared, with the idea of selecting the best. This is usually 
disastrous in its process and in its result. A foolish choice is often 
made of the man who preaches with the most ease and happens 
at the time to interest the people. If his antecedents are in such 
cases not carefully examined, a church depending simply on such 
candidating may secure or be secured by an unworthy man without 
character or record, who sooner or later will reveal himself and 
work great harm. Indeed, under the most favorable circumstances 
this process often defeats itself. Many of the best and most self- 
respecting ministers will not enter into any such competition. If 
three of the best preachers possible were to succeed each other in 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 237 

the same pulpit with a view to a call, the congregation would be 
sure to be divided between them, some preferring one and some 
another, when they could have heartily united upon either. Usually 
in such cases all three would probably be dropped, and the church, 
dreading a repetition of its experience, unite hastily upon some one 
far inferior to any of those thus set aside. 

The best way of proceeding is for the church to elect a com- 
mittee to find a pastor, making it large enough to be represent- 
ative, putting in it the best and wisest men, if possible, some one 
at least who knows men and has facilities for a somewhat wide 
correspondence. There will usually be a sufficient number of sug- 
gestions. Let this committee take advice from the most judicious 
men in the ministry and perhaps even more in the laity. There 
is a Board of Pastoral Supply in Boston, Massachusetts, and sim- 
ilar agencies in some other states, to which it is wise to apply for 
suggestions and for testimony as to men suitable to fill the vacancy. 
Let this committee first investigate the previous record of each 
person, as a student, or minister, going no further, if the result 
of the inquiry is not satisfactory. Let some of them at least hear 
him preach in his own pulpit, or in some other than their own, 
and, when they are thoroughly united, let them present his name 
to the people as their nominee, securing him to preach to them if 
possible. If the committee has been at all wise, there is every 
probability that its choice will be ratified by the church, unless 
new facts appear, or there is general disappointment at the last, 
which the committee will probably share. — Boynton: The Congre- 
gational Way, pp. 91-92. 

As It Was in Early New England. In some Churches of the 
Reformation, (bordering upon Switzerland) the People, after the 
public Performances of a Candidate have recommended him to 
them, Chuse him for their Pastor; Whereupon the Minister only 
preaches an Inauguration Sermon, and so without any further 
Ceremonies of Ordination, goes on with the Exercise of his Min- 
istry. 'Tis not so in the Churches of New England; except a Per- 
son has been once already ordained. But in this case, a Minister 
(suppose removing from a Church here, or in some other Country, 
where he has been already ordained), being elected and Invited 
unto the Pastoral charge in any of these Churches a Day of 
Prayer is kept, and the Choice renewed, and the Charge accepted, 
in the Presence of Delegates from other churches. And no further 
imposition of hands is used for his Instalment. — Cotton Mather: 
Discipline in the Churches of New England, 1726; pp. 41, 42. 

The Call of a Pastor in Old New England. Towards the end of 
the day, one of the Elders of the Church (if they have any), if 
not, one of the graver Brethren of the Church (appointed by them- 
selves to order the worke of the day) standeth up and inquireth 
of the Church, If now after this solemne seeking of God for his 
counsell and direction in this weightie work, they still continue in 
their purpose, to elect such a one for their own Pastor, or Teacher, 
or Ruling Elder, whom before they agreed upon; Then having 
taken their silence for a consent to their purpose, He proceedeth 
to inquire into the approbation of the rest of the Assembly, not 



238 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

onely the Messengers, and Brethren of other Churches, but of all 
that stand by; because an Elder is to be a man of good report of 
them that are without (I Tim. 3: 7) how much more well approved 
of the Churches of Christ? He demandeth therefore of the Churches 
first, and then of the rest, whether any of them have knowne of 
any evill, in the man presented before them, either in judgement, 
or practice, which might give them just cause to forbeare his elec- 
tion? If all keepe silence (as usually they doe, for if any have any 
just exception against the man, he is wont to acquaint some other 
of the Church with it before thee day) he turneth himselfe to the 
Church againe. Now seeing all is clear for their free election of 
him to such an office, he desireth all the Brethren of that Church, 
to declare their election of him with one accord, by lifting up their 
hands. — John Cotton: The Way of the Churches, London, 1645, pp. 
40, 41. 

Right of Church to a Doctrinal Statement from Candidate. It 
is no unwarrantable assumption for any congregation to require of 
the candidate for its pastorate a full statement made to them of hit 
doctrinal belief and religious experience. 

Besides his primary allegiance to Christ, and his secondary re- 
sponsibility to his own church, the Congregational minister has a 
certain tertiary allegiance and responsibility to the Church of 
Christ at large. — Ladd: Principles Church Polity, p. 225. 

Modern Congregationalism reverses the order of Dr. 
Ladd's "secondary" and "tertiary" responsibilities. A 
church has, indeed, a right to demand that a candidate for 
its pastorate shall undergo examination by the church itself; 
but few ministers would submit to such an examination 
as is here proposed. 

May a Call Be Extended for a Limited Time? Ordi- 
narily and historically our Congregational churches call 
their pastors without time limitation, the pastoral relation 
to be continued until terminated by mutual consent. A 
church may, however, call a minister for a year or other 
definite period of time. This practice is followed in many 
churches, but is earnestly to be discouraged. The annual 
election offers an ideal opportunity for mischief-makers, and 
is a fruitful source of uneasiness in the pastoral relation, 
resulting in short and ineffective pastorates and the weak- 
ening of the pastoral tie. If the church is reluctant to 
commit itself to a pastoral relationship without limit, it 
may reserve the right to terminate the pastorate on three 
or six months' notice, giving to the pastor the same privi- 
lege. 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 239 

Do Congregational Churches Have Ruling Elders? The 

ruling elders of Congregational churches are the same as 
teaching elders, namely, ministers. The early efforts to 
maintain ruling elderships distinct from teaching elderships 
did not prove successful and were abandoned. Pastors and 
deacons appear to be all the officers required for the orderly 
conduct of the affairs of Congregational churches. 

Ruling Elders. To the question whether in- the primitive 
churches there were two classes of elders, formally distinguished 
from each other as "ruling elders" and "teaching elders," Dr. 
Lightfoot appears to have given an accurate answer in the follow- 
ing passage: "The duties of the presbyters were twofold. They 
were both rulers and instructors of the congregation. This double 
function appears in St. Paul's expression 'pastors and teachers' 
(Eph. 4: 11), where, as the form of the original seems to show, the 
two words describe the same office under different aspects. 
Though government was probably the first conception of the office, 
yet the work of teaching must have fallen to the presbyters from 
the very first, and have assumed greater prominence as time went 
on. With the growth of the Church the visits of the apostles and 
evangelists to any individual community must have become less 
and less frequent, so that the burden of instruction would be 
gradually transferred from these missionary preachers to the local 
officers of the congregation. Hence St. Paul, in two passages 
where he gives directions relating to bishops or presbyters, insists 
specially on the faculty of teaching as a qualification for the posi- 
tion (I Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:9). Yet even here this work seems to be 
regarded rather as incidental to than as inherent in the office. In 
the one epistle he directs that double honour shall be paid to those 
presbyters who have ruled well, but especially to such as 'labour 
in word and doctrine,' as though one holding this office might 
decline the work of instruction. In the other, he closes the list of 
qualifications with the requirement that the bishop (or presbyter) 
hold fast the faithful word in accordance with the apostolic teach- 
ing 'that he may be able both to exhort in the healthy doctrine 
and to confute gainsayers,' alleging as a reason the pernicious 
activity and growing numbers of the false teachers. Nevertheless 
there is no ground for supposing that the work of teaching and 
the work of governing pertained to separate members of the pres- 
byteral college. As each had his special gift, so would he devote 
himself more or less exclusively to the one or the other of these 
sacred functions" ("Epistle to the Philippians," pp. 192, 193). 

Paul's words in I Tim. 5:17 seem decisive in favour of the 
theory that in the apostolic churches there were "elders" or "bish- 
ops" who did not give public instruction to the congregation. On 
the other hand, he describes it as a necessary qualification of the 
"bishop" that he should be "apt to teach" (I Tim. 3:2), and "able 
both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gain- 
sayers" (Tit. 1:9). The passage from Dr. Lightfoot suggests the 
explanation of the apparent contradiction. In the earlier days it 



240 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

may have been difficult to find several men in every church who 
united qualifications for exercising pastoral rule with qualifications 
for giving public pastoral instruction; but to place a church under 
strong pastoral influence was indispensable, and, therefore, "elders," 
"bishops," were appointed who could not "labour in word and 
doctrine." As time went on, there would be a larger number of 
men with a sufficient knowledge of Christian truth to enable them 
to discharge the functions both of teaching and governing. Paul 
therefore charges Timothy and Titus to require that the "elders" 
or "bishops" should be able to teach as well as rule. There had 
never, as Dr. Lightfoot says, been any formal distinction between 
"ruling" and "teaching" elders; Paul now thinks it desirable that 
every "elder" should teach. 

But the question whether there should be "ruling elders" who 
do not teach is evidently one of those questions of expediency 
which the church is free to determine according to its varying 
circumstances. What seems important is that the pastor should 
not rule alone, but should have associated with him church officers 
who share the functions of government, and among whom he 
simply presides. This seems to have been the uniform practice 
of the apostolic churches, and there are obvious reasons for per- 
petuating it. At first some elders were able to teach, and some 
were not; some were, in fact, only ruling elders; others both ruled 
and taught. When it became possible to secure elders who were 
qualified for both functions, Paul told Timothy that those should 
be elected who were "apt to teach" as well as able to rule. It 
would be well if in all churches all the elders, whether called elders 
or deacons, were able to exhort and instruct the church; but, if 
the double qualification cannot be secured in all, we are free to 
fall back on the practice of the churches in their earliest stage, 
and have "elders," under whatever name, who can govern, but 
some of whom cannot teach, associated with an elder — the pastor — 
who can do both. 

Many of the earlier Congregationalists were favorable to the 
appointment of "ruling elders"; the objection to the title is that it 
seems to restrain these particular elders from the right to use 
what powers they may possess for instructing and exhorting their 
brethren. — Dale: Manual, pp. 117-119. 

Ruling Elders in Congregational Churches. About 1616 Henry 
Jacob returned to London from a varied experience on the Con- 
tinent, and organized the first Congregational church in England 
which has left any traceable direct descent to the present time. It 
was naturally a Barrowistic body. So were those which grew up 
by its side, whose outnumbered pastors gave the Presbyterians so 
hard a fight in the Westminster Assembly. 

On this side of the sea, Cotton, Davenport, and Hooker shared 
the bitter old misconception and prejudice which had followed 
poor Browne in his renegade retirement; knew what his system 
was — his books having disappeared from public knowledge alto- 
gether — only from the misrepresentations of his enemies; and — 
led on in large part by too close an interpretation of a few pas- 
sages like Romans 12:6-8; I Cor. 12:28; I Tim. 5:17, etc.— they 
established Barrowism as the type of New England Congregation- 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 241 

alism. As such it went into the Cambridge Platform, where it 
especially blossoms in the eleventh section of the tenth chapter, 
as follows: 

"From the Premises, namely, That the ordinary power of Gov- 
ernment belonging only to the Elders, power of priviledge remain- 
eth with the brotherhood ... it followeth, that in an organick 
Church, and right administration, all Church acts proceed after the 
manner of a mixt administration, so as no Church act can be con- 
summated, or perfected, without the consent of both." 

What this "power of privilege" amounted to is made clear by 
the eighth section of the same chapter, where we read that when 
the elders have called the church together upon any weighty occa- 
sion "the members so called may not without just cause [the Elders 
being judges] refuse to come; nor when they are come, depart 
before they are dismissed; nor speak in the Church before they 
have leave from the Elders; nor continue so doing when they [the 
Elders] require silence; nor may they oppose nor contradict the 
judgment or sentence of the Elders without [what those Elders 
concede to be] sufficient and weighty cause; because such practices 
are manifestly contrary unto order and government, and in-lets of 
disturbance, and tend to confusion." 

Beautiful in theory as Barrowe thought this must be in the 
eye of every truly good man, and well-balanced as John Cotton 
conceived it ought to prove in practice, New England never really 
took to it. It may be doubtful if a single church here ever fully 
furnished itself with elders according to Barrowe's ideal; and it 
proved in practice excessively difficult to obtain fit men to serve 
in an office at once so exacting, so unsatisfying, and so liable to 
be unpopular. The pastors, however, for a long time proved equal 
to the emergency, and made up in quality of assumption for quan- 
tity of eldership. In many cases, after ruling elders had altogether 
ceased to be attempted to be chosen, the pastor assumed to himself 
solely the function constitutionally assigned to a session of which 
theoretically he was but a single member, and, in virtue of the 
eleventh section above cited, claimed and exercised the right to 
veto all church action which displeased him; on the ground that 
"no church act can be consummated, or perfected, without the 
consent of both." 

I need not suggest that such a condition of affairs was not a 
wholesome one for religion here. It was no strange thing that 
unrest followed. It would be too long a story for this page how 
God raised up John Wise of Ipswich, and, two generations later, 
Nathaniel Emmons of Franklin, by whose masterful logic, and 
powerful influence, the churches were carried back to New Testa- 
ment times, and Congregationalism — although these men scarcely 
knew the precise quality, or the full value, of that which they were 
doing — once more consistently planted upon the foundations 
which Robert Browne had elaborated for it in Norwich three hun- 
dred years ago. There was a difference in philosophy; none at 
all in the result. The world had been drifting toward democracy. 
And Wise and Emmons both demonstrated, with irresistible clear- 
ness and force, that democracy is not only a sound, but the best, 
government, whether for Church or State. So that the votes 



242 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

which in Robert Browne's little church at Middelberg its members 
gave not in their own right, but as vicegerents of Christ, the mem- 
bers of our American churches now give, under some solemn sense 
of fealty to the Master indeed, and with supreme desire to please 
Him, yet humbly as of their own right under Him, as being intel- 
ligent and responsible members of a spiritual commonwealth, each 
one of whom must give account before God for the use of the 
talents and gifts with which he has been endowed. — Dexter: Hand- 
book, 9-11. 

What Is a Collegiate Pastor? A collegiate pastor is one 
of several colleagues in the plural pastorate of a single 
church, or a federate group of churches having a common 
basis of authority and control. 

What Is an Assistant Pastor? An assistant pastor is 
an ordained minister called by the church to share in the 
responsibility and work of the pastor, and subject to his 
direction. His position as a minister of the gospel is equal 
to that of the pastor, but his position in the pastorate of 
the local church is subordinate, and his is a delegated 
authority. The pastoral work should be so divided that 
he shall have certain departments of work in which he is 
free to exercise initiative, but subject to the general direc- 
tion of the pastor. 

What Is a Pastor's Assistant? A pastor's assistant is 
not an assistant pastor. He may or may not be an ordained 
minister. He is not commonly called by the church, but in 
general is selected by the pastor, or by the pastor and dea- 
cons on the approval of the church. There is a growing 
and commendable custom of employing trained women as 
pastors' assistants. 

What Is an Acting Pastor? An acting pastor is a min- 
ister called by the church for a limited period during the 
absence or disability of the pastor, or between pastorates. 

Commonly it is understood that an acting pastor is not 
a candidate for the permanent pastorate. A definite under- 
standing on this point has often saved embarrassment to 
both parties, even though in some cases it has later come to 
pass that the acting pastorate became a very happy and 
fruitful permanent pastorate. During the period of his 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 243 

acting pastorate the incumbent may be authorized by the 
church to represent it in councils. 

What Is a Pastoral Supply? A pastoral supply is a 
minister or licentiate temporarily invited to conduct serv- 
ices and to perform pastoral functions to which his ecclesi- 
astical standing may entitle him. In some communions he 
is called a locum tenens. He may or may not be an ordained 
minister, and may be a minister of another denomination. 
If he be an ordained minister the church can authorize him 
during the period of his supply to perform within it any 
ministerial functions which it may direct, and if he be a 
Congregational minister it may make him its ministerial 
representative in a particular council. 

May a Church Employ a Non-Congregational Supply? 
A church may employ a pastoral supply who is not a Con- 
gregationalist, but in such cases reasonable caution should 
be exercised. Two recent cases have come to the personal 
knowledge of the author in which a man has been employed 
as pastoral supply who was not a member of a Congrega- 
tional church or of any Congregational Association and 
who proved unworthy. As no Congregational body was 
authorized to certify his standing, so none was authorized 
to try him and depose him. Only those men should be 
employed for whom some evangelical body is responsible. 

What Is the Pastor's Duty as Preacher? The first 
duty of a pastor is the preaching of the gospel. For this 
work he should make diligent preparation, earnestly search- 
ing the Scriptures that he may know and proclaim the truth 
and bringing forth out of his treasures things new and old. 
He should separate himself from all worldly callings that 
can interfere with his success as a preacher, or encroach 
upon his time, or diminish his opportunity for study. He 
should so care for his health and exercise his voice that he 
may effectively present the gospel to his people. 

What Is the Pastor's Function as Teacher? In the early 
Congregational churches there was little if any attempt to 
combine in one man the office of pastor and teacher. A 



244 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

plural ministry was the rule, with one man as pastor and 
another as teacher. But this division of labor did not 
always work well, and the office of teacher proved unprac- 
tical. It therefore became customary in calling a minister 
to state in the call that he was to be "pastor and teacher," 
and this is the customary form in modern Congregational- 
ism. In large churches with more than one minister, it is 
customary to choose an assistant with reference to his 
ability as teacher, but he is commonly an associate or 
assistant pastor, the responsibility for the teaching still 
residing in the pastor. 

Is the Office of Teacher Distinct from That of Pastor? Good- 
win, in his Church Government, answers the plea that they were 
one and the same, by insisting that the Greeks used kai dis- 
junctively at the end of a disjunctive enumeration, and applies it to 
Eph. 4: 11. Cambridge Platform says: "The office of pastor and 
teacher appears to be distinct." (See ib. on Pastor, his office.) 
Johnson, in his Treatise on the Reformed Churches, argues that 
they are distinct, from Eph. 4: 11; I Cor. 12:5, 6; with Rom. 12: 7, 
8. He says that the distinctive particle is used in Eph. 4: 11, in 
the Syriac translation, which is the oldest. Baillie says: "The In- 
dependents were for a doctor in every congregation, as well as a 
pastor. . . . The absolute necessity of a doctor was, however, 
eschewed (by the Westminster Assembly); yet, where two ministers 
could be had, one was allowed, according to his gift, to apply him- 
self more to teaching, and the other to exhortation, according to 
the Scriptures." Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Discipline, says that, 
"when there were two ministers to a church, one of them was for- 
merly distinguished by the name of teacher. . . . More lately, 
the distinction is less regarded; their being mentioned so as they 
are together in the Sacred Oracles (Eph. 4: 11) pleaded for little 
short of an identity between them." The distinction has now gone 
into practical disuse. (See Punchard's View, 80.) I. Chauncy con- 
tends that "the pastoral office comprehends the whole ministry of 
the church; but if, by reason of infirmity, or the size of the church, 
the pastor is unable to do the whole work, he may have aid or 
helps — a teacher to aid him in preaching, or a ruling elder to as- 
sist in ruling. He that is called to concur with the pastor in teach- 
ing, waits on that service, I Pet. 4:10, 11; and he that is called 
on to concur with him in ruling is to wait on that work especially." 
— Cummings: Cong. Diet., Teacher. 

Is the Congregational Pastor a Prophet? The Christian 

ministry perpetuates not the priestly but the prophetic 

office of the church. Although the minister have and must 

have a constant ministry of intercession for others, yet is 

his office that of a proclaimer of the truth. Neither in his 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 245 

case nor in that of the earlier prophets is his ministry 
largely one of prediction. He is not a foreteller but a 
forth-teller. To him the Spirit of God is given that he may 
interpret things as they are in process of coming to pass. 

Ministerial Leadership. In our Congregational theory the 
church is first of all, composed of ordinary men and women who 
love our Lord Jesus Christ and unite for service in his name. 
This theory, as held in completeness and consistency by us, dis- 
tinguishes our polity. Out of the church comes the specialized 
ministry of religion. Needing instructors and leaders, the church 
lays hands on a sufficient number and puts them forth. They in 
turn are evermore responsible to the church and depend upon her 
for opportunity and resources. The church is first, the ministry 
second and subordinate. — Nash: Cong. Administration, p. 37. 

The Doom of Leadership. He who has borne the burden and 
heat of the day learns in bitterness of soul the doom of leadership. 
To stand in the midst of the ecclesia, with the ordinary vicissitudes 
of man's life transpiring upon one's self from day to day, its varia- 
tions of mental activity, its episodes of spiritual depression, its 
yoke of earthly care, its fettering relationships, and yet to behold a 
thousand souls assembled and waiting for inspiration from one 
soul; to be conscious perpetually of this silent demand upon one's 
selfhood; to know that life must be maintained at the giving point, 
at the point of spiritual exaltation, where influence is generated 
for the uplift of many souls; to look into the faces of men and 
women gathered in the house of God, and to see in some the 
hunger of expectation that must be fed, in others the absence of 
energy that must be supplied — that is the doom of leadership. — 
Chas. Cuthbert Hall: Ministerial Power, p. 173. 

What Authority Has the Pastor? In the exercise of 
his office the pastor has authority commensurate with his 
responsibility. The duties which his call and office presume 
he has authority to carry out, and to use the necessary 
means for carrying them out. He has authority to teach 
the doctrines contained in the church creed, liberally inter- 
preted in the spirit of reasonable freedom. He has author- 
ity to arrange the order of the church service so as to pro- 
mote the spiritual welfare of the church, being guided by 
the counsel of the deacons in matters concerning which a 
difference of opinion may arise and where the church itself 
has final authority in matters of its own form of worship. 
The minister's authority to call for special meetings for 
the observance of Holy Week or the Week of Prayer could 
not reasonably be called in question, but the arrangement 



246 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

for a series of evangelistic services involving extra expense, 
and calling for the employment of unusual agencies, should 
be submitted certainly to the board of deacons, and in ordi- 
nary cases approved by the church. His right to use the 
church building for spiritual ends does not authorize him 
to arrange for concerts, bazaars, political gatherings, or dis- 
cussions of public questions, even if in his judgment these 
have a spiritual bearing, except by authority of the trustees 
of the church. The trustees cannot interfere with any 
spiritual use he may make of the building, but they should 
be consulted in every case where the building is proposed 
to be used for any purpose not clearly in the line of the 
spiritual work of the church. 

He is the leader of the Sunday school, and all its officers 
and teachers are under his general direction through the 
superintendent. This does not authorize him to remove a 
teacher without the consent of the superintendent, nor to 
change radically the policy of the Sunday school on his 
own initiative without the concurrent action of those placed 
under him in authority over that particular branch of the 
work. The same is true of all other organizations in the 
church. All spiritual work within the church is under the 
pastor's general advice and direction. But a department 
of the church work being organized as a department with 
its own officers and forms of work, it would not only be 
rude and ungracious but an unwarranted act for the pastor 
to ignore those to whom that work is committed. Still 
more would it be a rude and unauthorized act for any de- 
partment of the church work to set itself against the rea- 
sonable authority of the pastor, and to assume that Sunday 
school, or Christian Endeavor society, or missionary society 
existed in its own right independent of the church and in 
no sense responsible to the minister. The minister's re- 
sponsibility is large, and his authority must be commensu- 
rate with that responsibility. It is an authority to be exer- 
cised with great tact and patience, and with constant regard 
not only for the rights but for the feelings of others. The 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 247 

minister's authority over the music of the church does not 
extend to the employment of organist or choir, or to the 
selection of the hymn books, or the purchase of musical 
instruments. All this belongs to the church through its 
constituted committees or officers. But the pastor has 
authority to determine what music shall or shall not be 
rendered in any particular service, and should exercise this 
authority not by arbitrary and spasmodic interference, but 
by constant and intimate association with those who arrange 
the music. Differences of opinion that grow up between 
minister and choir, or minister and music committee, often 
occur through the attempt to enforce an authority that long 
has been neglected, whereas the minister's relations to 
these interests should be constant, and exercised in the 
form of advice or friendly counsel rather than by direct 
command. 

The pastor has authority in his utterances to speak the 
truth as he sees the truth, with confidence that he is the 
servant of no man ; but he has no authority to use his pulpit 
for libelous utterances, or for the expression of harsh or 
uncharitable judgments, or for the censure of his personal 
enemies, or for the gratification of his own likes or dislikes. 
He is free from all, yet the servant of all, and in the exercise 
of his authority he is to do all things to the end of edifying 
the Body of Christ. 

Ministers Subject to Churches. Nor doth it make the people 
rulers of their rulers, . . . that the church hath power over 
them, in case of delinquency; for excommunication is not an act of 
the highest rule, but of the highest judgment. ... If the min- 
isters become delinquents, then, as members, they are under the 
whole. — Davenport: Power of Cong. Churches, ii, 65. 

Power of the Congregation. This power of government in the 
elders, doth not any wise prejudice the power of privilege in the 
brotherhood; as neither the power of privilege in the brethren 
doth prejudice the power of government in the elders, but they may 
sweetly agree together. — Cambridge Platform: x, 10. 

Relations of Pastor and People. Christian congregations should 
be trained to reason with and rebuke the pastors who preach un- 
sound doctrine: Christian pastors should show themselves thor- 
oughly enough Christian to heed the reasoning, and submit with 
humility to the rebuke. The pastor who feels himself most loftily 



248 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

elevated above his own church in the knowledge of the doctrine of 
Christ is most ill fitted to be their pastor. To what lengths of un- 
reason and discourtesy a minister may be carried by wholly for- 
getting the essential nature of his relations to the people, some 
of our own controversial books and pamphlets have made us 
aware! — Ladd: Polity, p. 224. 

Pastors Lead, Not Rule. All pastors should remember that the 
people rule in our polity, and the people should suffer no pastor to 
forget. The Congregational pastor is neither ruler nor hired serv- 
ant. He should neither lord it over the flock, nor do their work 
for them at market-place wages for a definite time. He is the 
elected leader, whose duty is to lead and train. He will do well 
to have conspicuous among his working principles this one, that 
he will do nothing which he can get any one else to do. — Nash: 
Cong. Administration, p. 76. 

May a Pastor Advise a Child Against the Advice of the 
Parent? This is a delicate question which cannot be 
answered in every case by the same unqualified word. 
There might arise, and have arisen occasions, in which 
parents instructing a child to commit a crime should be 
advised by the minister not to do the thing which his 
parents have been instructing him to do. Yet any such 
example must be counted as the very rare exception. Ques- 
tions sometimes arise in the matter of young people uniting 
with the church. Very rarely indeed, if ever, ought a pastor 
to encourage a minor to unite with the church against the 
insistent prohibition of the parent. This is not only good 
religion but good law. In such a case the parent should be 
seen and earnestly consulted to encourage the child in the 
Christian life, but if the parent remains obdurate, the child 
should be counseled to continue in only such outward Chris- 
tian activities as the parent approves, and beyond this to 
exercise patience and prayer and to perform the duties of 
a child so faithfully as in time to secure the parental con- 
sent. 

A test case of the right of a minister to interfere with 
the will of a parent was that of a young woman of seven- 
teen, whose parents were Presbyterians and who herself 
desired to join a Baptist church. The Baptist minister im- 
mersed her against the expressed will of her father. The 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 249 

court decided that the act of the minister was an unwar- 
ranted interference with the lawful authority of the father. 

What Is the Value of Installation? Installation is a 
safeguard to the local church. It offers the examination of 
a minister's credentials by a competent and authorized 
body. If universally practiced it would result in almost 
complete elimination of adventurers from the Congrega- 
tional ministry. It is also a fitting act of fellowship, recog- 
nizing the common interest of the churches in the important 
act of beginning a new pastorate. 

Installation has a legal value. An installed minister 
cannot be removed from his pulpit against his will except 
for gross immorality, neglect of duty, or essential change 
of doctrine. 

Is Installation a Growing Custom of Our Churches? 
Installation has steadily declined during the past half cen- 
tury. While it has much to commend it, and deserves to 
be encouraged, it has steadily lessened, spite of almost un- 
reasonable efforts to increase its scope. The Boston Plat- 
form of 1865 unwarrantedly denied the title, pastor, to any 
but installed ministers; and Dr. Dexter, after decades of 
insistence upon installation, dedicated his latest book of 
Polity "To the Settled Pastors of the Congregational 
Churches." Spite of these efforts to outlaw all others, the 
number of installed ministers has diminished both abso- 
lutely and relatively. Dr. George M. Boynton wrote in 
1904: 

According to the Year Book there were, January 1, 1903, 4,393 
churches with pastors. Of these only 819 were with pastors in- 
stalled by council, that is, only eighteen per cent of the whole num- 
ber. Of the 1,311 in the New England states, 506 were installed 
after the old pattern, a little less than thirty-nine per cent, while 
of the larger states in the West the percentage is from five to 
twenty-five per cent. It is interesting to trace this matter back 
for nearly fifty years. In 1857, out of 1,768 churches 947 had pastors 
installed by council, or fifty-four per cent. The percentage was 
lessened year by year until 1880, when of 2,800 churches 881 had 
pastors installed by council. Thus at this half-way point from our 
earliest complete denominational statistics in 1857 the percentage 
had decreased from fifty-four per cent to thirty per cent. Since 
then it has dropped to eighteen per cent. 



250 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Decline of Installation. In New England a bare majority of our 
churches, and in the rest of the country only one-fifth of them, are 
protected by the safeguard of installation. In 1857, when the sta- 
tistics of our churches were first published, seventy-three per cent 
of our pastors in New England were installed, and fifty-four per 
cent of all our ministers there. Such being the facts, the churches 
there cannot much longer depend entirely on councils of ordination 
and installation for safeguards of purity. Indeed, wisdom demands 
that those states begin finding some better safeguard, or soon their 
churches will be defenseless. 

During the last thirty years strenuous efforts have been made 
in papers, associations, and councils to induce the churches to in- 
stall their pastors. The result is indicated in the following table, 
which shows a steady and great relative decline in installations: 





Installed 






Per cent o 


fthe 


installed: 


Year. 


Pastors. 


Pastors. 


Ministers. 


Of Pastors. 


Of Ministers. 


1857 


1,025 


706 


2,350 


59.2 




40.5 


1867 


887 


1,111 


2,879 


44.4 




30.8 


1877 


889 


1,474 


3,406 


39.0 




26.1 


1885 


954 


1,910 


4,043 


33.3 




23.6 


1914 


560 


3,535 


5,923 


15.8 




9.4 



This decadence in installations has come about in the face of 
the most persistent efforts to encourage the churches to call such 
councils. As a means to this end reports in our Year Books have 
divided pastors into two classes, "pastors" and "acting pastors," 
and the Boston Council, in 1865, declared installation necessary to 
the recognition of a preacher as a pastor (Boston Platform, Part 
III, ch. ii, 7 [2]). It can hardly be hoped that since the churches 
have stated fellowship in their associations, they will ever return 
to councils in addition as safeguards of purity; since a compre- 
hensive, inexpensive, normal, and adequate safeguard is found in 
ministerial standing in associations of churches. 

No safeguard which reaches only a small proportion of min- 
isters and churches, and is failing in spite of every device to sustain 
it, can be adequate, and no such safeguard should be relied on any 
longer than is needful for adjustment to a better way. The ease 
with which councils can be packed, their unfitness for careful in- 
quiry on the eve of installations, their tendency to stir up strife 
by hasty action, the fact that if one council fail to do the will of 
a church another can be called to do it, their narrow scope, their 
expense in countries with few churches, their politico-ecclesiastical 
origin — these and some other things render it evident that coun- 
cils, except for adjustment of troubles and the discipline of min- 
isters or churches, will ultimately cease. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, 
pp. 291-292. 

The decline has continued until the Year Book for 1914 
shows only 560 installed pastors out of 3,535 serving the 
churches as pastors, and out of a total of 5,923 ministers, 
a percentage of less than sixteen. 

Who May Install a Minister? A minister may be in- 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 251 

stalled either by an installing council, or by the District 
Association to which the installing church belongs. 

A form of service suitable for installation will be found in 
Barton's Congregational Manual. 

What Is the Value of a Recognition Service? Where a 
church prefers not to install its pastor, it may call a council 
of recognition. Such a council has no legal authority and 
the pastoral relation may be dissolved either with or with- 
out a dismissing council, but it has the value of safeguard- 
ing the interests of the church and of expressing the fellow- 
ship of the churches. The procedure is the same as in a 
council for installation, and the same form may be used 
excepting that the word, recognize, should take the place 
of install, and recognition take the place of installation. 

How May a Church Terminate a Pastorate? A pastor 
who has been called without time limitation, and settled in 
his pastoral office according to the customs of his denom- 
ination, can legally be driven from his pastorate for one of 
three reasons : First, gross neglect of duty ; second, gross 
immorality; third, radical departure from the theological 
views held by him and publicly expressed at the time when 
he became pastor of the church. Very rarely is a pastor- 
ate terminated for any one of these three reasons. A church 
which is convinced that the time has come when its present 
pastorate should terminate ought first of all to search its 
own heart and motive and be sure that it has fulfilled and 
is willing to fulfill all its own duty to the pastor, and that 
the fault, if fault there be, which exists as the ground for 
the separation, is wholly his. The vague charge that "there 
is some criticism," or that "certain influential people have 
left the church," or that "he is not popular with the young 
people," or that "he has given offense to some important 
interest," is not a sufficient reason, and ought not to be 
a sufficient moral ground, for the termination of a pastor- 
ate. Before acting on any of these grounds, the church 
should earnestly inquire of itself whether it has striven 
faithfully and affectionately to co-operate with its minister, 



252 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

to supplement his deficiencies and to make his ministry- 
effective, and if the fault or any part of the fault lie with 
the church it should first seek to correct its own error 
before thrusting him forth. But if convinced that the pas- 
torate ought to terminate, the officers of the church should 
confer with the minister lovingly and in a brotherly spirit, 
advise him that in the judgment of the church the time is 
approaching when a change should be made, and give him 
time and reasonable opportunity to seek another field. In 
almost every case a minister thus approached will willingly 
withdraw, even at the cost of great sacrifice. In the interval 
that remains between such a conference and the retirement 
of the minister, he should be given every reasonable oppor- 
tunity to find another parish, and the church should gladly 
co-operate with him in this matter. 

When the time comes for the dissolution of the pastor- 
ate, his resignation having been read from the pulpit and 
formally accepted in a business meeting of the church, the 
pastor should be dismissed from the church by a regular 
letter to the church which he wishes to join, and the church 
may very properly in addition pass resolutions saying all 
that it can truthfully say that is favorable to him as a min- 
ister and a man. 

Termination of Pastorate. When the pastoral relation is to be 
terminated, if on account of dissatisfaction with the minister, great 
care should be taken that everything be done in a spirit of con- 
siderate kindness on both sides. Unless the cause be moral de- 
linquency, the communication of the desire on the part of the 
church should be made so as to wound as little as possible. It is 
not pleasant at the best to be told that personal services are no 
longer desired, and yet it must sometimes be done. Let it be 
done with a kind heart and tongue, after much prayer and with 
the good of the church as the only motive. Let those who must 
communicate such sad news put themselves in the place of him to 
whom it is to be told and consider how they would feel about it. 
It should be done frankly when necessary. It is a poor compli- 
ment to a man to suggest that he does not want to know the truth; 
only be sure that it is the truth and spoken in love. 

The minister, too, should not be angry. He should keep re- 
sentful thoughts from his heart and sharp words from his lips. 
He should not emphasize the ingratitude of those for whom he has 
done so much; perhaps they have done and borne as much for 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 253 

nim as they have received from him. — Boynton: Congregational 
Way, pp. 94-95. 

Should a Minister Stand on His Legal Rights? A min- 
ister should know his rights under the law, but should 
rarely stand on them. The servant of the Lord should not 
strive. At the same time, the church should know the legal 
rights of the minister, and accord him not only those, but 
the full measure of Christian courtesy in addition. 

Legal Rights of Minister. By the old usage and by the de- 
cisions of courts, a minister installed without limit of time or pro- 
vision for termination of relation has a claim upon the church or 
society for salary promised him annually until he shall be con- 
victed either of immorality, neglect of duty, or material change of 
beliefs. But these are not by any means the only reasons which 
may lead a church to desire a change of pastors. One may be 
eminently unsuccessful, although he is guilty of none of these 
things, and for the good and growth of the church should leave it. 
Some prominent instances have occurred within the past few years 
where pastors have successfully resisted all efforts to displace 
them until really bought off. It is not strange that intelligent 
churches should hesitate to put their necks under this yoke of 
bondage. They therefore settle their pastor without a council. 
But this omission is by no means necessary in order to escape this 
trouble or danger. Churches and ministers are insisting in these 
days on putting a provision into the call by which, on thirty days' 
or three months' notice from either pastor or church and with ap- 
proval of an ecclesiastical council, the pastoral relation may be 
terminated. This is simple and safe for both parties. — Boynton: 
The Congregational Way, p. 117. 

We think that under those peculiar circumstances, where the 
matter is reduced, by the pastor's unreason, to a contest upon the 
arena of bare legal right, a parish would be justified in what, under 
other circumstances cannot too much be condemned; namely, such 
a legal reduction of his salary as may remove that inducement for 
his persistent hold upon the contract. It will do no good to close 
the meeting-house against him, because the courts have repeatedly 
decided that the pastor who holds himself at all times ready to 
discharge his legal duties, may lawfully claim his salary, even 
when the parjsh do not allow him to perform them. But if a pastor 
could be so lost to all sense of the decencies — not to say pro- 
prieties — of his position, as thus to persist in inflicting his pres- 
ence upon a loathing people, in the face of the advice of his breth- 
ren in council; we do feel that his people would be justified in all 
legal efforts, by way of reprisals, to make his position uncomfort- 
able among them — until he should be driven to cut the knot by his 
reluctant resignation. We thank God, however, for the belief that 
there cannot be one Congregational minister in ten thousand, who. 
under any circumstances of sanity, could be brought to allow him- 
self to be thus "an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword" on 
the earth. — Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 204. 



254 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

How May a Minister Terminate a Pastorate? A min- 
ister may terminate a pastorate by resignation, which must 
be accepted by the church, and if he be installed by council, 
approved by a dismissing council. If the contract with the 
church includes a clause requiring a prior notice, he should 
be scrupulously careful to observe the conditions of his 
contract. If he accepts another call, it should be only a 
conditional acceptance, subject to his honorable release 
from his present office by the regular dissolution of his 
pastorate. 

Is a Dismissing Council Necessary? A dismissing coun- 
cil is always permissible, and in case a minister has been 
installed by council, it is necessary. The council should in- 
quire concerning the success of the pastorate and the rea- 
sons for its dissolution, and if the minister is worthy should 
give him a certificate which shall serve as a credential to 
the church or council to which he may be going. 

Is the Advice of a Dismissing Council Authoritative? 

While the general principle holds that a Congregational 
council has only advisory power, still if a minister is in- 
stalled by a council and his resignation is submitted and 
accepted subject to the advice by council, the concurrent 
action of council is necessary to the dissolution of the pas- 
torate, and if the council refuses to act the pastorate is not 
terminated but continues. If the council concurs, the pas- 
torate is terminated. 

Church Free to Act. A church being free, cannot become sub- 
ject to any, but by a free election; yet when such a people do 
choose any to be over them in the Lord, then do they become sub- 
ject, and most willingly submit to their ministry in the Lord, 
whom they have so chosen. — Cambridge Platform, vii, 6. 

The church either puts their ministers into office, or delegates 
power to neighboring ministers to do it for them, which is the 
same thing as doing it themselves. Therefore, as neighboring min- 
isters could not place a pastor over them without their consent; 
so they cannot put away or dismiss their pastor without their con- 
sent. The voice of the church must always be had in every act of 
discipline. Now, if a council cannot dismiss a minister without 
the consent of the church, then it clearly appears, that the right 
of dismission belongs solely to the church, who may dismiss their 
minister without the advice, or contrary to the advice of a council, 



THE OFFICE OF THE PASTOR 255 

if they think he has forfeited his ministerial character; but not 
otherwise. — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt., Inference I. 

If the Congregational type of ministry is the truest to the 
apostolic church order, it is so precisely because it best preserves 
the primitive relation between people and pastor, a loving church 
and a divinely qualified ministry, and this with a view to foster 
the intimate religious fellowship contemplated in the gospel of 
Christ. But the best in ideal is always the most difficult to realize 
in practice. Thus it behooves us to take more seriously to heart 
the task of educating our people to something like a due sense of 
the high notion of Christian fellowship involved in the Congrega- 
tional conception of the local church, as a body entrusted by God 
with the responsibility of determining its own ministry, so far as 
that falls to men at all. — /. Vernon Bartlet: Address at Inter- 
national Congregational Council at Edinburgh, 1908. pp. 219-220. 

The Pastor's Authority. The pastor is to be loved, honored and 
obeyed, in the Lord. He is placed over the church by both the 
Head of the body, and by the free and voluntary act of the body 
itself. Though he professes no magisterial authority, and has no 
power, either spiritual or temporal, to enforce mandates or inflict 
penalties, yet the very position he occupies as teacher and leader 
supposes authority vested in him. On the one hand, the minister 
is not to be regarded with ignorant and blind devotion, as if pos- 
sessed of superhuman attributes, whose official acts must be ven- 
erated even though his private life be scandalous; nor yet, on the 
other hand, is he to be considered a mere puppet for the capricious 
mistreatment of such as wish to show their independence, and 
"use their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness." — Hiscox: Baptist 
Directory, p. 100. 

Must Pastoral Conditions Be Ideal? Ministers should 
not expect perfect churches, nor churches perfect ministers. 
The pastoral relation, like marriage, calls for mutual con- 
cessions and adjustments, which are to be made in a spirit 
of mutual love. 

Few Ideal Pastorates. The ideal pastorate is, no doubt, life- 
long; but in practical life this is seldom realized. In theory there 
is something beautiful in the case of a minister who spends his 
whole life among the same people, loved, honored and venerated 
till his death; around whom the new generation grows up as his 
supporters, when the fathers have passed away. Honored by his 
compeers, loved by the young, venerated by the children, he be- 
comes the typical patriarch and shepherd of the flock. Such things 
have been; but seldom can they now be found — certainly not in 
our denomination. And perhaps, on the whole, it may be just as 
well. The restless spirit of a headlong age and a busy life de- 
mands change — change in hope of progress, but change at any 
rate. The romance of a beautiful theory cannot control the activ- 
ities of society, not even in Christian circles, since there, also, a 
carnal, utilitarian spirit is likely to rule. — Hiscox: Baptist Direc- 
tory, p. 102. 



256 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

How Can a Church Be Saved from an Unworthy Pastor? 

No church should call a pastor, or even hear a minister as 
a candidate until it has satisfied itself that he is in good 
standing. To do this is not a difficult matter. It can first 
look in the Congregational Year Book, which is supplied 
to every church clerk and pastor, and see if his name ap- 
pears there as a minister in good standing. Inquiry may 
be made of the Superintendent of the state in which he last 
labored. If he comes from another denomination, inquiry 
should be made through our own Congregational officials. 
It has happened many times that adventurers have gotten 
into our Congregational pulpits, sometimes captivating the 
congregation to an extent that made any attempt to keep 
them out practically futile. Such men having obtained a 
foothold in one church go with unfortunate ease to another, 
sometimes leaving behind them a trail of divided and 
almost ruined churches. Such men usually possess the easy 
power of convincing some good people within a church that 
they have been wronged and that any attempt to inquire 
into their past, or request for their credentials, is an indi- 
cation of persecution. Every qualified Congregational min- 
ister has credentials which certify to his standing, and no 
such minister being honest will be offended if asked to pro- 
duce them. But credentials are not personal letters of 
recommendation. These are far too easily obtained and 
sometimes secured by fraud or misrepresentation. A min- 
ister's credentials include : First, evidence that he is a mem- 
ber in good standing of some local Congregational church; 
secondly, a certificate of his ordination ; thirdly, evidence of 
his present membership in a .Congregational Association, 
whose officers are named in the Congregational Year Book 
and can always be written to in order to ascertain whether 
the credentials may possibly be forged. If a Congrega- 
tional church will be as careful about calling an unknown 
man as a local bank would be about cashing a check for a 
stranger, a great deal of trouble will be saved. 



XVI. ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 

What Is an Ecclesiastical Council? An ecclesiastical 
council is a body composed of representatives of the 
churches of a particular locality called together for the con- 
sideration of a specific matter set forth in a document 
known as a Letter Missive, issued by the inviting church 
or other body competent to issue such a letter, which docu- 
ment is the charter of the council. 

Councils and Synods. Synods we acknowledge, being rightly 
ordered, as an Ordinance of Christ. Of their assembly we find 
three just causes in Scripture. (1) When a Church wanting light or 
peace at home, desireth the counsell and help of other Churches, 
few or moe. (2) When any Church lyeth under scandall, and will 
not be healed by more private advertisement of their own members 
or neighbor ministers. (3) It may so fall out that the state of all 
the Churches may be corrupted, and beginning to see their corrup- 
tion may desire the counsell of one another for a speedy and safe 
and general reformation. — John Cotton: The Keys of the Kingdom, 
p. 23. 

Synods and Councels have powers of Iurisdiction, to declare and 
apply both implicite and explicite Laws of Christ in a Brotherly 
maner. Fathers, Modern Divines, Calvin and his successors, all 
do generally, or for the most part, consent to this Proposition, 
though the opposition of the extreme opinion of Papal power hath 
occasioned some to speak too diminitively of Synods and Councels. 
The power of many Churches over one is natural and naturally 
necessary, as the power of many Members over one Member, if it 
be true (which hath been proposed) that all Churches are but one 
Church and corporation under the Lord Christ. — James Noyes: The 
Temple Measured, London, 1647. 

The Name Council. The Congregational use of the name coun- 
cil is historically a gathering of neighboring churches called by a 
local church to act with, or to give advice to it in any condition 
where that aid is needed and requested. A council is thus called 
to advise or co-operate in a definite matter {pro re nata). The 
only exception to this use of the word Congregationally is in con- 
nection with the National Council, which in fact is a National As- 
sociation or Conference of churches. — Boynton: Congregational 
Way, p. 102. 

What Is the Meaning of "Pro Re Nata"? Pro re nata 
means "born for the purpose." The term is used to dis- 
tinguish councils convened by letter missive for the con- 
sideration of a specific matter, from all other ecclesiastical 
assemblies called councils, as, for example, ecumenical 



258 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

councils, national councils, or other denominational or inter- 
denominational conferences that may be called councils. 

What Is the Function of an Ecclesiastical Council? 
Ecclesiastical councils are, first of all, organs for the expres- 
sion of the fellowship of the churches. From the beginning 
Congregational churches have held not only to freedom 
but to fellowship as fundamental to the Congregational 
system. Forms for the expression of fellowship have 
varied, but the council is the oldest and best established of 
all accredited forms of co-operant action among Congrega- 
tional churches. Particularly, councils are called to organ- 
ize or recognize churches, to ordain or install or recognize 
ministers, and to give advice in matters of church life and 
administration. 

The Fellowship of the Church. A church of Jesus Christ may- 
exist and be complete in itself without any relation to another 
church. It may be so isolated in position that it is impossible to 
maintain such relations. It may be so surrounded with alien and 
ungodly influences that there is no other similar body with which 
it can be in fellowship. Such a church is an Independent, not a 
Congregational church. Fellowship between churches is main- 
tained by various means of communication, by councils, or by 
Associations (Conferences, Conventions); that is, by representative 
gatherings of churches called to advise and help in special cases, 
or organized to meet regularly for consultation and fellowship. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 101. 

No Authority Over Other Churches. Churches are in all ec- 
clesiastical matters equal; . . . Christ has not subjected any church 
or congregation to any other superior ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
than to that which is within itself; so that, if a whole church or 
congregation should err in any matters of faith or worship, no 
churches or spiritual officers have power to censure or punish 
them, but are only to counsel and advise them. — Bradshaw: English 
Puritanism, ch. ii; sec. 2, 3, in Neal's Puritans, i, 248. 

Who May Call a Council? In a majority of cases, a 
council is called by a local church ; but this is not an inva- 
riable rule. The following methods are orderly: 

(i.) A local church may call a council to organize or to 
recognize a newly organized church ; to welcome to fellow- 
ship a church of another denomination desiring to become 
Congregational ; to ordain, install or dismiss a pastor ; or to 
advise in any case of need. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 259 

(2.) Two or more churches may join in calling a council 
where they have common interests in a proposed under- 
taking, as the organization of a new church lying between 
them. 

A mother church having organized a mission or branch 
church into an independent church may join with the latter 
in calling a council of recognition. 

A group of churches may call a council to determine the 
wisdom of organizing an Association, or to determine a 
boundary between Associations, or for other suitable rea- 
sons. 

In cases where a group of churches having common 
interests unite in calling a council, the inviting churches 
may desire to send delegates and participate in the delib- 
erations of the council which they call, and this is orderly 
if their intentions are stated in the letter missive. In cases 
where a mother church and a daughter church unite in the 
call of a council for the recognition of the latter, the mother 
church may be entitled to representation in the council if 
the letter missive so states, but in no case where two or 
more churches unite in calling a council may either of the 
inviting churches be represented in the council if the occa- 
sion for the call be any controversy between the inviting 
churches or any of them. 

(3.) A church and one or more of its members may call 
a council. In any case where a difference of opinion arises 
between a church and its minister, or between the church 
and one or more of its members, and the local church has 
found no satisfactory solution of the difficulty, the two 
parties may unite in the call of a council. 

A council is called by two parties having different inter- 
ests which they agree to arbitrate before a council, which 
is called a mutual council; the term is not applied where 
two parties are in agreement, as where two churches agree 
to organize a third church and unite in a letter missive. 

(4.) A minister or other member or group of members 
may call a council in a case where serious injustice is 



260 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

alleged to have been done by the local church and the 
church refuses to make amends. Such a council is called 
an ex-parte council, but is never to be called excepting 
where a mutual council has been refused. 

(5.) An Association or Conference may become a party 
to a council when a question arises concerning its treat- 
ment of one or more of its members. If an Association 
withdraws fellowship from a minister and he is dissatisfied 
he may not appeal to the State Conference, which is not 
organized as an appellate court, and has no authority to 
reverse decisions in the District Association, but he may 
appeal to a council and invite the Association to join him 
in so doing; or the Association because of any appearance 
of local prejudice that might seem to disqualify it from 
dealing with an alleged offense may join in calling and 
become a party to a council. 

The same right to become a party to a council belongs 
to the State Conference. A State Conference may refuse 
to receive as a member a minister even though he be in 
fellowship with an Association, and has the right to do so 
if he be of bad moral character. The minister has no right 
of appeal from the State Conference to the National Coun- 
cil, but may appeal to a mutual council called to consider 
that question. 

These provisions for the participation of a Conference 
or Association in a council are recent developments of our 
Congregational polity, but grow logically out of the lodg- 
ing of ministerial standing in District Associations. It is 
repugnant to our system that there should ever be a series 
of courts rising one above another from local church to 
District Association and thence to State Conference and 
National Council. The mutual council is the logical resort 
in cases of this character. It is hoped that it will not fre- 
quently be employed, but if necessity arises for its use, its 
right to be cannot reasonably be challenged. 

(6.) A Missionary Society. While the occasions are rare 
in which a missionary society may be expected to call a 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 261 

council, still this has been done, and it is a possibility to 
be recognized. The emergency of calling a council to 
ordain a foreign missionary is treated under the paragraph, 
"May a Missionary Society Ordain a Missionary?" 

Dr. Dexter maintained that a council must invariably be 
called by a church, except in two instances: First, that of a 
company of Christians proposing to organize a church ; and 
secondly, that of an aggrieved individual member calling 
an ex-parte council (Handbook, p. 118). The answer of 
Dr. Ross appears much more logical : 

Can an association be a party in the calling of a council? We 
may answer: (1) That whatever concerns the churches may be the 
ground of a council. If a thing be of common well-being, the 
churches may sit in council upon it. And the parties most affected 
or involved are the ones that should invite the churches to give 
their advice in the matter. (2) Past usage cannot prevent needed 
changes. If it could, then a living infallible pope were better than 
an unchangeable custom. Usage is not superior to principle and 
growth, and hence it must change, since Congregationalism is a 
living organism. (3) The past has had similar councils. We have 
already shown how the General Court of Massachusetts Bay, which 
was also a General Association of the churches, called councils. 
Besides, councils have been called by Associations of ministers, 
by towns, and by missionary societies {Dexter: Congregationalism 
in Lit., 526, 527; Upham: Ratio Discipline, sec. 93). There is nothing 
to hinder the calling of such councils, if there be a general need 
of them. (4) That there is such need is easily made apparent. 
Ministerial standing of some sort is now held largely in Associa- 
tions of churches or of ministers. Ministers have been expelled 
from them, either after a fair inquiry or without a fair hearing, 
possibly no notice having been given them; and their expulsion is 
published in the papers to their great damage. If they are un- 
justly dealt with in such exclusion, how shall the wrong be ascer- 
tained and redressed? There is only one ecclesiastical way of re- 
dress in our polity equal and fair to both the parties involved. 
If redress be sought in the civil courts on a suit for libel or 
slander, or in a mandamus ordering their restoration to member- 
ship, the expense is great, the result probably adverse, and our 
polity is put to shame. If a church call a council on the case, its 
action therein is indirect and inadequate. Each such case can be 
covered and full redress rendered only by a mutual council called 
by the two parties involved, the minister suspended or expelled or 
excluded and the association or conference doing the alleged 
wrong. Neither civil courts nor other councils meet the require- 
ments of the case. Hence justice and polity alike demand that in 
such cases at least associations be parties in the calling of coun- 
cils. Nothing else will satisfy. — Church-Kingdom, pp. 282-283. 



262 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

(7.) A group of people who desire to organize a church 
may call a council to effect such organization. 

Must All Councils Be Chosen from the Vicinage? The 

rule that councils are to be chosen from the vicinage admits 
of important exceptions. There have been cases in which 
the churches of the vicinage were so related to the partic- 
ular problem involved as to make it imperative that a con- 
siderable proportion of the churches should be chosen from 
a distance. The famous council called to consider the case 
of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, and its pastor, Rev. Henry 
Ward Beecher, is an example. There are often reasons 
why a particular church at a distance should be invited. 
In this as in all matters of procedure, good common sense 
is good Congregational polity. At the time of the Episco- 
pal defection in Connecticut, the letter of the Boston min- 
isters to the distressed churches recommended a council, 
impartial, and not confined to the vicinity. 

How May a Council Be Called? A council is called by 
the issuing of a Letter Missive. If such a letter is issued 
by a local church, the church must authorize it by a specific 
vote, naming the business for which the council is to be 
called and designating the persons who are to act for the 
church in the calling of the council. 

What Should the Letter Missive Include? The letter 
missive, which is sent to each invited church and individual, 
should give, first, the name of the body inviting the council ; 
secondly, the time and place of meeting; thirdly, the precise 
business to be presented to the body; fourthly, a full list 
of the churches and individuals who are to compose the 
council; fifthly, the signatures of the members of the com- 
mittee calling the council. The letter missive should be 
sent out a sufficient time in advance to afford opportunity 
for the election of delegates and to give sufficient time for 
their attendance. 

How May a Church Facilitate the Work of a Council? 
A church, having called a council, may greatly facilitate the 
work of that body by a few simple preliminaries. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 263 

It should be sure that its own records are in good con- 
dition, ready to be presented, and it should have an officer 
present, preferably the clerk, in charge of the records, ready 
to read them and to make any necessary explanation of 
them. If any formal memorial is to be presented, it may 
appoint a member to present it, and he will be heard by 
the council, not as a member of the council, but as a repre- 
sentative of the inviting church. 

It should provide a supply of writing material for the 
scribe of the council, and this should be ready upon a table 
in front of the pulpit. It is not well to use the communion 
table for this or other common purposes. A package of 
slips or cards should be provided for balloting, and for the 
securing of names of members, in order to facilitate the 
making of the roll. 

The church can greatly assist the scribe, also, if it will 
prepare a typewritten sheet with generous spaces, contain- 
ing the form for the beginning of the work of the council, 
and another sheet with the list of the churches invited, 
plainly typewritten on the left, with space for two names 
on the right. The scribe of the council is often hurried in 
the opening minutes of the council, and the confusion of 
his records at the beginning often involves confusion 
throughout. 

If an inexperienced person is chosen as scribe, he will 
find simple directions for the beginning of his work in Bar- 
ton's Congregational Manual, pp. 255-257. 

Who Compose the Membership of a Council? It is cus- 
tomary to invite each church to be represented by its pastor 
and a single delegate. This, however, is not a necessary 
or invariable custom. An invitation might be issued re- 
questing the church to send to the council its pastor and 
two or three delegates. There is no fixed and necessary 
proportion between ministerial and lay members of a coun- 
cil, though the common custom is that each church shall 
be represented by its pastor and one lay delegate. 

Cotton Mather shows that in his time there were fre- 



264 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

quently as many as a half dozen delegates from each church, 
the pastor choosing one or more and the church electing 
others. There was a time in New England when churches 
resented being restricted in the number of delegates chosen. 
In a council in Dorderton, about 1794, each church had one 
to six delegates. 

How Many Delegates. Samuel Mather informs us, that, in the 
synod of 1679, certain pastors were not allowed to sit till they had 
lay delegates to sit with them. John Wise maintains that minis- 
ters may be left out of the choice of delegates to council, if so 
their churches will. From Balch's Vindication of the Second 
Church in Bradford, it appears that the church, about 1746, sent 
to the ministers of one association with their churches to consti- 
tute a council. Mr. Davenport was invited to sit with the synod 
at Cambridge. — Cummings: Cong. Diet., Councils. 

What Constitutes a Quorum? A majority of all invited 
churches constitutes a quorum. Quorums have sometimes 
been judged by the counting of individual members, ,but 
this is not good practice. A church accepting an invitation 
to a council is represented whether it sends its full delega- 
tion or not. Individuals invited to a council, though they 
have standing in the council, should not be counted in 
determining a quorum. 

May Churches Invited to Council and Unable to Attend 
Diminish the Necessary Quorum? Where distances are 
great and the difficulty of securing a quorum is conse- 
quently considerable, it is permissible for a church receiv- 
ing a letter missive and unable to attend, to communicate 
to the inviting church its regret, together with the request 
that its necessary absence be not permitted to militate 
against the securing of a quorum. Where such a request 
is made, there can be no valid objection to counting such 
a church out of the little majority which would be necessary 
to a quorum. Dr. Boynton has suggested, and quite prop- 
erly, the inclusion of a sentence such as the following in 
the letter missive where such a condition is anticipated: 

"We respectfully request that you would pass a vote 
agreeing that such churches as may be present in council, 
under this invitation, — a quorum being present, if not in 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 265 

person, by the force of such votes duly received, — may be 
authorized to proceed with the work for which the council 
is called; and that you will transmit this vote at once to 
our church. ,, 

This is far better and safer than the plan proposed in 
the Boston Platform, which cannot be considered good 
Congregationalism : 

"If a majority of the churches invited be not represented, 
those present ought not to proceed as a council, unless the 
party inviting consents.' , 

How Is a Council Organized? The first step in the 
organization of a council is the reading of the letter missive. 
This is the official call of the council. The reading may be 
done by an officer of the inviting church, who therein wel- 
comes the council and lays the business before it. This is 
a dignified way of opening a council, and worthy of more 
frequent usage. Commonly, however, the council is called 
to order by one of it's members. A dignified and worthy 
custom has made the senior pastor present the natural per- 
son to perform this service. While the person calling the 
council to order, if a member of the council, does not 
thereby disqualify himself for permanent moderatorship, it 
should be understood that the reading of the letter missive 
is not the announcement of a candidacy for that office. 

It is the duty of the reader of the letter missive to call 
for the election of a temporary scribe, and to determine 
whether a quorum is present. As this process usually in- 
volves the reading of the list of invited churches and indi- 
viduals, it is desirable that the roll be made up at this time. 
It will insure accuracy in the recording of the names if 
cards are provided, and each member of the council record 
his name and the church he represents. It will also facili- 
tate the determination of a quorum. As soon as it is deter- 
mined that a quorum is present, a permanent moderator is 
to be elected. This may be done by ballot, and must be so 
done if any member of the council demands it, but a ballot 



266 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

need not be insisted upon if there be no expressed desire 
for it. 

What Are the Duties of the Moderator of a Council? 
The first duty of the permanent moderator is to lead the 
council in prayer. It is this prayer which constitutes the 
council. While the moderator may call upon some other 
member to perform this service, it is customary and desir- 
able that the moderator himself offer the constituting 
prayer. 

The next duty of the moderator is to call for the election 
of a permanent scribe. If the duties of the moderator or 
scribe are likely to be prolonged or arduous, the council 
may elect an assistant to either or both. 

The next duty of the moderator is to call for the records 
relating to the call of the council. These should be sub- 
mitted by the clerk of the church, or by some officer repre- 
senting the body calling the council. This record should 
show distinctly the nature of the business named in the 
letter missive and the authority by which that business is 
submitted to the present council. If there is any doubt 
about the jurisdiction of the council, that question should 
be settled before the council proceeds. 

The council being now assured of its own membership 
and of its jurisdiction, the moderator will call for the par- 
ticular business for which the council has convened. The 
records having been presented, other documents and per- 
sonal statements may be received until the whole matter 
which the council is to determine is fully set before it. 
This should be done as nearly as may be in regular and 
logical order, and after each part has been presented the 
council may at its discretion conclude that portion of its 
inquiry by a vote "that the papers and statements thus far 
submitted are deemed satisfactory ." It should be under- 
stood, however, that such a vote does not determine any 
subsequent action of the council. It merely indicates that 
the council has heard all that appears to be available or all 
that it deems necessary at present upon that particular 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 267 

point. It does not prevent the council from making any- 
further inquiry if at a later stage it finds the matter sub- 
mitted to it to be incomplete. 

During this time the moderator's duty is that of an 
ordinary presiding officer, with somewhat more than usual 
freedom in the matter of directing the order of events. If 
the business of the council is the ordination of a candidate 
to the ministry, the moderator will commonly lead in the 
examination, or may designate some member to lead in the 
propounding of the questions. This he does, not to the 
exclusion of other members, all of whom have equal right 
with himself to participate in the examination, but as a 
matter of facilitating business and exercising the preroga- 
tive of a president. 

It is the duty of the moderator also to preside at and 
conduct the public service; to announce to the congrega- 
tion the decision of the council ; and, in cases of ordination 
or installation, to lead in the public form of ritual, unless 
the council shall designate another member to perform 
those services. 

The moderator can greatly facilitate the work of the 
council by keeping clearly in mind the simple outline of the 
work to be done, and that of his own part as leader. The 
moderator, as well as the scribe, should sign and certify 
all official documents emanating from the council. 

What Is the Duty of the Scribe? It is the duty of the 
scribe of a council to keep the records of the council and 
the roll of its members, and at the close to complete the 
records and furnish copies signed by himself and the mod- 
erator to the inviting church and to all other parties uniting 
in the call of the council. It will greatly facilitate the work 
of the clerk if stationery is prepared in advance, as sug- 
gested in a previous section. But even where this is not 
done, the work of the scribe is not heavily burdensome if 
he does his work in a systematic way. It is his right to 
require that all lengthy motions should be submitted in 
writing. 



268 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The scribe should not be made a member of any com- 
mittee. 

The scribe should do his work so thoroughly that he can 
have his records in order and ready to be read and approved 
at the close of the executive session of the council. 

For further suggestions to the scribe of a council the reader 
is referred to the author's Congregational Manual, pp. 255-258. 

Does Irregularity in Invitation Invalidate the Council? 

Irregularities in letters missive or in the records of the 
churches calling the council will frequently be found, but 
not every such irregularity invalidates the council. It is 
for the council itself to determine whether an irregularity 
in the form of the proceeding or of the call is of such a 
character as to invalidate the call. Where a council has 
been called in good faith and there is no indication that any 
party will suffer wrong through a technical irregularity, a 
council should not be invalidated on account of an inad- 
vertent error of a minor sort. 

What Is the Place of Individual Members in a Council? 

It is customary to invite to a council individual members 
in addition to the delegates from the church. In centers 
where a considerable number of ordained professors, sec- 
retaries, editors and other ministers without pastoral charge 
are living, the number of such individuals sometimes con- 
stitutes a very large proportion of the council. This ought 
not to be so. The number of individuals especially invited 
should be few in proportion to the representatives of the 
churches. It is the churches who are to assume responsi- 
bility for the finding of the council. Individuals who are 
desired, should, as a rule, be secured through election by 
their own churches. In a paper by Dr. Hazen, in National 
Council Minutes of 1898, this principle is emphasized. He 
declares that if an individual is greatly desired, either be- 
cause he is to preach a sermon or to furnish expert advice, 
such cases should be limited to very special exceptions and 
never multiplied for merely honorary recognition. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 269 

Of the Place of Ministers in Councils. Not their office, but 
their delegation, gives them power to be members of synods; . . . 
none ought to be admitted to such assemblies but those whom the 
churches shall send. . . . So. in ecclesiastical councils, not only the 
officers but others may receive a commission from the churches, 
and then have equal power with the pastor. — Increase Mather: Order 
of the Gospel Justified. 

Pastor and Delegate. The churches invited to assist in a coun- 
cil are represented by messengers or delegates chosen by them for 
the particular occasion. By ancient usage, the pastor of a church, 
having been duly recognized as its presiding elder or bishop, is 
always expected to be one of its messengers; and the letters con- 
vening the council invite each church to be represented by its pas- 
tor and delegates. Yet, in the council, when convened, there is no 
distinction of authority between pastors and other delegates. — Bos- 
ton Platform, 1865, Part III, chp. xxi, 2. 

May Non-Congregationalists Be Invited to a Council? 

The inviting of an individual, or even of a church, other 
than Congregational, does not invalidate a council. If the 
son of a Methodist minister were to be ordained by a Con- 
gregational council, it would be proper to invite his father 
as an individual member of the council. If it were proposed 
to organize a Congregational church in a given district, it 
might be not only courteous but desirable that the neigh- 
boring Presbyterian church should be invited to the council. 

Are Individual Members Always Ministers? The lib- 
erty of inviting individual members is not restricted to min- 
isters. A distinguished layman may sometimes properly 
be invited. For instance, the president of the American 
Board might with propriety be invited to a council called 
to ordain a missionary, even though the local church of 
which he was a member were quite outside the circle of 
invited churches. The president of the college of which 
the candidate is an alumnus may properly be included in a 
letter missive for ordination. But there is manifest reason 
why less freedom should be exercised in inviting lay than 
ministerial individuals to councils. A minister, even when 
invited as an individual, still retains something of a repre- 
sentative character in a church council. His office makes 
him a part of the organic life of the denomination. Laymen 
when invited as individuals are practically certain to be 



270 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

chosen for personal reasons. No council should be com- 
posed of a preponderance of individuals ; and there are good 
reasons why few laymen are invited as individual members 
of councils. 

Have Individuals Any Standing in Council? There does not 
appear to be any Congregational authority whatever for the par- 
ticular church that assembles the council to invite individuals to 
sit and act in the same, in their own persons and right, and not 
as the representatives of sister churches. — Upham: Ratio Disci- 
pline, pp. 126-127. 

Is a Council Composed Wholly of Ministers Valid? It 

is. A church may invite a council of ministers, and if their 
churches authorize them to act, the council is as valid as 
any other. But a council of individual ministers, respond- 
ing personally to a letter missive not submitted to their 
respective churches for action, would have no authority. 
It might act as a board of arbitration, or give advice accord- 
ing to its wisdom, but it would not be an ecclesiastical 
council. 

Is a Council of Laymen Valid? It is. A church may 
invite a council requesting the invited churches to send one 
or more delegates, men of business experience and wisdom 
in practical affairs. If the churches accept the invitation 
and elect a council of laymen, the finding of the council will 
be valid. 

Such councils, however, are unusual. It is desirable that 
they be infrequent. The ideal council is composed of both 
ministers and lay delegates from the churches. 

Laymen and Ministers in Council. There is Weight in Austin's 
Argument, viz. That the power of the Keyes belongs to the whole 
church; And that therefore not the Pastors only should have their 
voice in Councils. Since Councils represent the Churches by 
whom they are Chosen, it is meet that some of each order should 
be chosen. Church-members are fellow Citizens, and therefore 
ought not to be deprived of their power. 

It is not their Office but the Churches Delegation that giveth 
power to be the members in Synods. The Specificating act in 
which Synodal power and so the right of a Decisive Vote is 
sounded, is the Churches Delegation. None ought to be Admitted 
into such Assemblies, but those whom the Churches shall send. — 
Increase Mather: The Order of the Gospel, Boston, 1700, pp. 85, 86. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 271 

Should a Council Be Called for Licensure? A council 
is not a suitable body to consider the question of licensure. 
A licentiate should be under the permanent care of an Asso- 
ciation during the period of his candidacy for the ministry. 
A council called to ordain a man and finding him not quali- 
fied, may commend him to the District Association for 
licensure, but should on no account presume to issue a cer- 
tificate of licensure. 

Council for Licensure. A council is not the proper body to 
license or approve a candidate for the ministry, because this is not 
an ecclesiastical act, but only a nomination, as a basis for ecclesias- 
tical action, and because a license is given for a limited period 
to be renewed or not by the body giving it, and a council is not 
a continuous body and so cannot issue or refuse such a renewal. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 104. 

May the Council Examine When Not Invited So to 

Do? Churches have been known to withhold from letters 
missive any invitation to the invited council to examine 
the candidate or the records of the church. The inviting 
church has a right to limit the action of the council in this 
way, if it chooses, and the churches have the right to say 
whether they will accept such an invitation. A notable 
instance was that of the Old South Church in Boston, in a 
service in 1884. The letter missive contained no invitation 
to examine the candidate. It read: "You are hereby cor- 
dially invited to participate by pastor and a delegate in the 
proceeding of the council when the action of the church 
and society and the correspondence in connection with the 
call will be read before you, and the pastor elect will make 
a statement of his religious beliefs, preparatory to the usual 
service in the evening." The reservation in this letter mis- 
sive was made with intent, as there was some reason to 
anticipate that not all the members of the council would 
approve the theological views of the candidate. The letter 
missive virtually served notice on the churches invited that 
the inviting church retained the right to install its pastor 
elect even if the council did not approve. But even in this 
case there was no attempt to restrict the liberty of the 



272 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

council in the matter of examination. The pastor elect pre- 
sented his paper, and the examination which followed was 
a very thorough one. 

In other cases the expression, "to examine the candi- 
date," has been intentionally omitted from the letter mis- 
sive, and the reservation implied in that omission is within 
the prerogative of the inviting church. However, it does 
not follow that the council has no right to ask questions. 
Reasonable questions are still in order. If the council is 
to express any judgment of the action of the church, the 
members of the council have the right to call for the essen- 
tial facts on which to base their judgment. The church or 
candidate may decline to answer reasonable questions, but if 
so, the council has the equal privilege of declining to ap- 
prove the action of the church because of the withholding 
of the information which the council had the right to expect. 

Limitation of Council. Occasionally a church has sent out a 
letter missive for a service of installation in which it has not dis- 
tinctly asked the council to satisfy itself by examination in regard 
to the matters involved before voting to co-operate. If the in- 
vited churches believe that they are not asked to examine the case 
before them and give their advice and assistance with freedom, 
they should decline the invitation; it would not be to a Congre- 
gational council. If, however, as has usually been the case, the 
inviting church does not intend to limit the churches so that their 
only possible action is that of acquiescence, and on the clear un- 
derstanding that a Congregational council can only be asked to 
advise and to act its free pleasure, the mere variation in the form 
of the invitation should not invalidate the call or at all affect the 
proceedings of the council. The letter ought, however, expressly 
to submit the matters involved for examination, and ask for advice 
and co-operation. If that is not desired, a council should not be 
called, or, if called, the invitation should be declined. It is too 
late, however, to find fault with the letter after accepting the in- 
vitation which it contains. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 108. 

Dr. Boynton is not quite accurate in saying that "it is 
too late to find fault." The council may find fault, and not 
only so, may refuse in such a case to go forward. But this 
will not ordinarily be necessary. 

What Are Reasonable Limits in Examination of a 
Candidate? The candidate presenting himself for ordina- 
tion or installation must expect to assure the council of his 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 273 

Christian experience, call to preach, and record in the min- 
istry. Any question is in order which will help the council 
to a decision concerning these matters. In case of installa- 
tion, some things may be taken for granted which are 
proper matters of inquiry in the ordination service. A man 
who has been working successfully in the ministry, and 
who brings with him satisfactory credentials, may indeed 
expect to be questioned, but not as if he were applying for 
a license to preach, or even for ordination. 

The minister himself, and the church calling him, has 
the right to expect that his years of service will count for 
something and that the form of the examination will be 
such as to recognize the standing he already has attained 
in the ministry. 

Installation is no longer re-ordination, nor is a service 
of examination provided as a means of gratifying an unrea- 
sonable curiosity concerning irrelevant or trivial matters 
of opinion. 

A council should not be permitted to degenerate into a 
debating club, or an arena in which a candidate is subjected 
to torture for the amusement of delegates holding theologi- 
cal eccentricities. 

Is a Council a Court? A council is not a court. In the 
felicitous language of Dr. Dexter, "it is the affectionate 
persuasive presence of near friends, tenderly concerned to 
have all that is unclear clarified and all that is selfish or 
exorbitant, or only misunderstood or misdone, readjusted 
into the harmony of absolute right" (Congregationalism as 
Seen in Its Literature, p. 691). 

Yet there is an important sense in which the council in 
Congregationalism becomes a court of last resort; and this 
was recognized by the National Council in 1886. 

Force of Council Decrees. The doctrine which is maintained by 
those who follow the language of Rev. Samuel Mather, in his 
"Apology for the Liberties of the Churches of New England," 
that councils can neither pretend to nor desire any power that is 
juridical; that, "when they have done all, the churches are still 
free to accept or refuse their advice" — has too often been made 
a pretense for self-will and disorderly conduct. The decrees of 



274 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

such councils as have had the reasonableness that is secured by 
purity of motive, dispassionateness of judgment, wisdom in adapt- 
ing means to ends, have seldom been wanting in both the appear- 
ance and the reality of force. — Ladd: Principles of Church Polity, 
p. 297. 

Is a Council an Appellate Body? Appeal may be made 
to a council; yet the Congregational spirit is not favorable 
to a system of appeals from lower to higher authority. 
Local differences are to be settled locally; and when there 
is need of advice it is given on request by churches and 
brethren near at hand and interested in the peace and good 
name of the churches, and not carried on and up through 
a long series of courts to prolonged and possibly hopeless 
disagreement. In the matter of appeals, Cummings thus 
summarizes our older authorities: 

John Davenport shows in his "Power of Congregational 
Churches," that they are endless in the practical application; for, 
if the principle is once admitted, there is no consistent stopping- 
place short of a general ecumenical council, which may not assem- 
ble for an age. Richard Mather and W. Tompson (Hanbury, ii, 
p. 65) press the same argument concerning appeals to discipline 
churches. John Wise ("Vindication," p. 54), doubtless referring to 
Matt. 18, says: "There is apparently some great fallacy in the 
objection (i. e., to the ultimate power resting in the church), or 
certainly our blessed Saviour did not state his cases right." . . . 
Dr. Emmons ("Platform," "Works," v, p. 454) says: "Christ here 
gives no direction to the censured person to appeal to any higher 
tribunal, . . . nor to the church to call a council for advice. The 
censured person has no right of appeal. . . . because there is no 
higher tribunal on earth to which he can appeal. . . . There must 
be a final decision, and the church must make it." His reasoning 
looks like not allowing the aggrieved a right to seek admission to 
other churches; but this was not probably his meaning. — Cummings: 
Cong. Diet., Appeals. 

Council a Court of Last Resort. If we need a safeguard against 
other polities, here is one. The Presbyterian may carry his 
troubles up the line, to presbytery, synod and assembly, and accept 
the results formulated in the distant judicatories. The Congrega- 
tionalist turns back to the local churches whose fraternal advice 
is his final dependence. As long as this method of appeal stands, 
a drift into other polities is blocked. Equally blocked is a tend- 
ency into any sort of perilous centralization. We may freely de- 
velop the local association, only keeping the council behind it as 
court of appeal. This turn is pivotal in our polity; upon it we 
swing back to the pro re nata action of the churches. And should 
the council come to be mainly limited to this function of appeal, 
it would therein retain eminence and power such as should satisfy 
its most jealous advocates. — Nash: Cong. Administration, pp. 97-98. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 275 

What Are the Sessions of a Council? The sessions of 
a council are of three kinds: the opening business session, 
the executive session, and the public session. 

(a) The Opening Business Session. The purpose of the 
opening business session is one of inquiry. The council 
should hear in the presence of all interested parties a full 
statement of the business to come before it. When it has 
heard all that it judges to be pertinent thereto, it is common 
to vote that the council be by itself. The successive votes 
taken by the council in its opening business session, "That 
the papers thus far be deemed satisfactory," should not be 
understood as opening to discussion the main question for 
which the council is called. Members of the council have 
been known to err on this point. If, for instance, a candi- 
date for the ministry has submitted a certificate of his 
church membership, of his college and seminary graduation, 
of his licensure, and of his call, the council may very prop- 
erly entertain a motion that the papers thus far be deemed 
satisfactory. That, however, is no time for some enthusi- 
astic friend of the candidate to offer an eulogy upon him or 
to discuss the question of his ordination. It is not good 
form for members of the council to attempt to anticipate 
its finding by remarks upon routine motions of this char- 
acter. The purpose of the public session is to get all the 
facts before the body in the most prompt and orderly man- 
ner possible, and it is a discourtesy to the council for one 
of its members to use this session as an opportunity for 
discussions which should be in private. 

(b) The Executive Session of the Council. It is custom- 
ary and eminently proper that the council should retire 
and consider the business before it in executive session. 
Even where there can be no reasonable doubt of the action 
of the council, it is orderly and according to usage that the 
representatives of the churches should give calm and judi- 
cial attention to the business on which they are called, and 
that this should be done in a room where they may speak 
in perfect freedom and apart from the possible embarrass- 



276 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

merit of interested parties. The council being by itself 
should proceed as directly as may be to the consideration 
of the business that has been presented to it. It does this 
upon a motion. If its business is the ordination of a min- 
ister, the form of the first motion usually is, "That the 
examination be sustained." This motion opens the whole 
question of the examination for discussion. It is customary 
to give every member opportunity to participate. Some- 
times this is done by the calling of the roll for a yea and 
nay vote, each member being permitted to speak briefly as 
he casts his vote. Whatever the nature of the business, it 
should be considered in order, and the full will of the 
council expressed upon a definite motion. 

The council having determined what it will do, it is 
customary to appoint a committee to formulate its judg- 
ment. This is done in an official document called "The 
Finding of the Council." In case of ordination or installa- 
tion, the finding is usually presented in the form of an order 
of public service, which is submitted for adoption. In case 
of dismission, the finding is in the form of resolutions com- 
mending the retiring pastor and the church. These resolu- 
tions are not mere matters of courtesy; they form a part 
of the permanent records of the church, and are an essential 
credential of the retiring pastor. 

While the committee is out conferring with the pastor 
elect or the church committee, or formulating its finding, 
the council may review its own records, correct its roll, and 
have its work in order. 

The report of the committee, which may be expected 
by the time the records are read and approved, will com- 
plete the records up to this point, and the council may take 
recess until the public service, if one is to follow, or may 
complete its work and dissolve. 

It is usual to vote, "That the scribe have authority to 
complete the records, and that at the close of the public 
service the moderator declare the council dissolved." 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 277 

This formal motion is not strictly necessary, and where 
it is inadvertently omitted these officers are free to con- 
sider these duties among their necessary prerogatives. 

(c) The Public Session. The public session is not an 
invariable part of the proceedings of a council, for a council 
is called merely for advice and gives that advice through 
the adoption of a formal resolution to be entered upon the 
records of a church or delivered to the parties calling the 
council. It is not always necessary, and it often is not 
desirable, that there be a public service, but in cases involv- 
ing the recognition of a church, or the ordination or instal- 
lation of a minister, and in many other instances, it is 
eminently fitting that the work of the council conclude 
with a public service, wherein the finding shall be read and 
the congregation publicly apprised of what the council has 
done; and thus the council may properly close with digni- 
fied public exercises. 

Should Councils Vote by Churches? Rarely is there so 
sharp a difference of opinion in councils that a vote would 
be modified if taken by churches instead of by individuals. 
Yet if such a situation should arise, it would be in order to 
insist that a council of churches should record its vote by 
churches, the pastor and delegate, if both are present, agree- 
ing in their vote, or dividing if they are unable to agree, 
and leaving the decision to the churches that have a united 
judgment. 

How Should a Council Be Addressed? If a church or 
an individual has occasion to address a formal communica- 
tion to a council, the proper form is not, "To the Honorable 
Council," or "We petition your Honorable Body," that form 
of address belonging to political and judicial bodies. The 
correct form is, "To the Venerable Council" and "We peti- 
tion your Venerable Body." 

What Is the Finding of a Council? The official judg- 
ment of a council on a matter submitted to it is known as 
"the finding." This is commonly formulated by a com- 



278 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

mittee after the council has expressed its general judgment 
by the adoption of a motion. The vote by which the coun- 
cil determines what it will do is commonly a general vote, 
as "That the examination be sustained," or "That the coun- 
cil approve the dissolution of the pastoral relation," or 
"That the council finds that the Rev. John Doe has been 
guilty of conduct unbecoming a minister of the gospel." A 
simple motion of this kind brings before the council di- 
rectly the main question which has brought it together, 
and if the motion prevail the principal point is settled. 
However, there is often something more to be said. If the 
council be called to dissolve a pastorate, the retiring pastor 
may deserve a resolution of commendation, or the church 
may need advice, or in case some one has misbehaved the 
precise ground of disapproval should be stated with pre- 
cision and care. A committee to formulate the finding is 
exceedingly valuable in such a case. The vote which the 
council has taken declares the thing which the council 
wants to do, and the discussion later indicates the general 
sentiment of the council in the matter. A committee can 
formulate this finding and present it to the council in shape 
for discussion, amendment and adoption. This finding, 
having been adopted, becomes the official statement of the 
council's judgment in the premises. 

Is the Decision of a Council Binding Upon the Parties 
Calling It? In theory, the finding of a council has only so 
much force as there is force in the reason of it, and may 
freely be disregarded by the parties calling the council. 
The early decisions of the courts following this theory 
were generally to the effect that a council cannot enforce 
its finding. There is, however, a manifest and exceedingly 
important exception to this rule, namely, that when any 
vote or agreement is made conditional upon the approval 
of a council, the finding of a council in that case is final. A 
church which invites a council to examine a candidate for 
its pastorate cannot proceed to ordain the candidate if the 
council refuses to do so. It can call another council and 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 279 

carry through its will in this manner, but if it does so the 
churches acting through the association may refuse to rec- 
ognize the finding of the "packed" council as valid. So 
long as the matter submitted to the council affects only the 
church or parties inviting the council, the advice may be 
freely disregarded, unless there has been a previous pledge 
to abide by the finding of a council. But when the action 
affects the welfare of the churches as a whole, the churches 
have an indubitable right to make their will effective in 
those matters which concern the common good. When, 
therefore, a council is called and the parties calling it agree 
to abide by its finding or make an action contingent upon 
the approval of the council, the finding of the council is 
virtually final and will be recognized by the courts, pro- 
vided it can be shown that the council acted within its 
jurisdiction. 

The literature on the authority of councils is voluminous, 
and the historic decision is that, except as above stated, the 
finding of councils has advisory weight only. 

No Jurisdiction Over Local Churches. Christ has not subjected 
any church or congregation to any other superior ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction than that which is within itself; ... no other churches 
or spiritual officers have power to censure or punish them, but 
only to counsel and advise them. — Bradshaw: English Puritanism, 
ii, 4. 

There is no jurisdiction, to which particular churches are or 
ought to be subject, by way of authoritative censure. — Hutchinson: 
History of Mass., Vol. I, p. 371. 

Our churches acknowledge no jurisdiction of sister churches 
over them, but hold themselves to be capable, and to have the 
power, to determine all matters of discipline that arise in a particu- 
lar church. The moment jurisdiction enters, like creating Caesar 
perpetual dictator, the beginning of the absolute loss of liberty 
commences. . . . The exigencies of the Christian church can never 
be such as to legitimate, much less to render it wise, to erect any 
body of men into a standing judicatory over them. — Stiles: Con- 
vention Sermon, 45 et seq. 

Where a church wants light, she should send for counsel, but 
preserve the power entirely in her own hands, where Christ has 
placed it. — Davenport: Power of Congregational Churches. 

The power of councils is merely advisory; nor can they volun- 
teer that service. They cannot come till they are asked, nor extend 
their inquiries beyond the point submitted. — Judge Haven: Dedham 
Case, 1819. 

Churches reserve to themselves to refuse or accept the advice of 



280 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

council: . . . Congregational churches universally hold a nega- 
tive on the result of council. . . . The decision of council is of 
no force, till received and ratified by the inviting church, nor does 
it render that church obnoxious to community if she recedes from 
advice of council. — Stiles: Convention Sermon, pp. 46-48. 

May Churches Agree to Accept Advice? Bliss, in his History 
of Rehoboth, shows that the parties bound themselves beforehand 
to abide the result of council relative to the dismission of Mr. 
Carnes in 1763. This is the earliest instance which I have noticed, 
save the cases to which John White alludes in his Lamentations in 
Wise's Quarrel, p. 165. — Cummings: Cong. Diet., Councils. 

Are Councils More than Advisory? The affirmation so 
often made, and stoutly insisted upon, that the action of a 
council is advisory only, calls for important qualification. 
In many matters, even where there is no agreement to 
abide by the finding of the council, its result is necessarily 
final. 

Standing in Civil Courts. The result of a council is in many 
cases necessarily only advisory, and a church may decline to act in 
accordance with it without incurring censure, but in some cases 
the result is necessarily conclusive. Thus, a council called to act 
upon the proposed ordination of a minister, and proceeding to or- 
dain him, of course determines the question. A council called with 
power to declare the dissolution of a pastoral relation can decide 
imperatively, but such power is seldom given. The courts in 
Massachusetts, and also in some other states, have recognized the 
existence of councils as a part of our polity, and have declared 
that when a council is impartially selected, and proceeds accord- 
ing to the ordinary principles of fairness, either party accepting the 
result of such council will be sustained by law in cases within the 
cognizance of law. — Alonzo H. Quint: in Dunning's Congregation- 
alists in America, p. 497. 

May a Council Adjourn? A council may adjourn when 

its business is not completed, but it does not often do so, 

and as a rule should not. A council "takes recess'' between 

sessions, usually on the same day, or on successive days, 

attending to its business until its work is done. At the 

close of its work it either adjourns without date or more 

properly dissolves. Either form of motion is in order, but 

the motion "That the council do now dissolve" is in better 

form than "That the council adjourn without day." The 

reason is that adjournment in any form is suggestive of 

continuity of service, and is more or less foreign to the idea 

of a council. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 281 

Occasions sometimes arise which call for the adjourn- 
ment of a council. For instance, a church calls a council 
to advise it in the matter of its proposed disbanding. The 
general evidence presented to the council indicates that 
the church cannot longer be maintained, yet a few brave 
souls ask for two weeks in which to make an earnest can- 
vass to rally the support both of members and of money 
for the maintenance of the church. The council may very 
properly heed their request and lend them whatever en- 
couragement it deems wise in their undertaking. 

Quite of another sort is the adjournment some councils 
have been known to take. They have completed their 
work, adopted their finding, and then adjourned to see 
whether that finding was followed. In one case, a council 
publicly adjourned, but privately agreed that it would come 
together on call if its finding did not settle the difficulty; 
and in the course of a month the council re-convened on its 
own initiative. It hardly need be said that the second ses- 
sion of this council was entirely without authority and its 
finding null and void. 

How Are Councils Classified? The ordinary ecclesiasti- 
cal council, if given a name at all, takes its name from the 
business it is called to transact, as "an ordaining council," 
or "a dismissing council," or sometimes "a council of ordi- 
nation" or "of dismission." Where two parties representing 
diverse interests join in calling a council, it is called a 
"mutual council." A council called to give advice on mat- 
ters other than the foregoing is commonly called "an advis- 
ory council." Where a council is called by a single party, 
but where only one side of a grievance is represented in 
the call, it is called "an ex-parte council." 

Dr. Ross held that there should also be "««i parte coun- 
cils" in which there is no opposition, or other party in 
agreement; and "duo parte councils," inclusive of councils 
of ordination, installation, dismission or recognition; that 
is, a council called by two parties in agreement, but these 



282 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

terms have not made their way into common usage 
(Church-Kingdom, p. 275). 

What Is a Mutual Council? A mutual council is a 
council called by two or more parties representing diverse 
interests. A council called by two churches for an object 
where the interests of the two are identical is not, strictly 
speaking, a mutual council. For instance, two yoked 
churches uniting in a single service of ordination call a 
single ordaining council. A council of dismission joined in 
by the pastor and the church is not a mutual council where 
the two are in complete agreement. A council called by a 
church and one or more aggrieved members is a mutual 
council. A council called by two churches, one of which 
has received into membership an expelled member of the 
other, is a mutual council. A council called by a church 
and its pastor involving a difference of opinion is a mutual 
council. Where there is a mutual council the two parties 
agree in the selection of the churches invited, and usually 
agree to abide by the decision of the council. This com- 
monly was not the case in earlier times. Mutual councils 
then gave their advice and both parties could accept it, or 
one could accept it and the other reject it, or both could 
reject it as they saw fit. It is not now generally considered 
a courtesy to the churches to call them to a mutual council 
except on an agreement to abide by their decision. In this 
respect there has been a marked change in the character 
of mutual councils, for they are usually bodies of arbitration 
whose finding is accepted in advance as an essential element 
in their call. This, however, is not necessary to the char- 
acter of a mutual council, which may be called for advice 
only, leaving both parties entirely and independently free. 

What Is an Ex-Parte Council? An ex-parte council is a 
council called in a matter that would be submitted to a 
mutual council if all the parties involved would agree to 
the call of a mutual council, but in which one or more of 
them refuses. In such a case an ex-parte council is called, 
in order that an ecclesiastical body representing the 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 283 

churches may contribute the weight of its judgment to the 
attempt to adjust a grievance. 

Ex-parte councils are governed by the same general laws 
that apply to other councils, but have a few special rules 
growing out of their public nature. The first and funda- 
mental rule of an ex-parte council is that, being organized, 
it shall carefully consider whether the difficulty is one 
which an ex-parte council can reasonably hope to assist. 
If the injury complained of is a purely local one, whose 
results lie entirely within the local church, a council cannot 
properly be called and should refuse to act. The assistance 
of the churches in their organic unity should be invoked 
only in matters that transcend local limits. For instance, 
if a church member has been privately censured by his 
church, but not publicly condemned, and his membership 
remains intact, he cannot call an ex-parte council to adjust 
what he deems a grievance that is purely local in its char- 
acter. If an ex-parte council has convened and organized, 
and finds that the occasion of its call is of any such nature 
as this, it should promptly decide that it has no jurisdiction 
in the premises, and convey this finding to the parties call- 
ing it. 

As soon as an ex-parte council is organized, and finds, or 
apears to find, that the matter concerning which it is 
called is one over which it has jurisdiction, its very next 
duty is to offer itself as a mutual council. In order to ac- 
complish this highly desirable result, it should urge upon 
the party calling it all reasonable concessions. Its findings 
can have no weight whatever unless its records show that 
it has exhausted all reasonable effort to induce both parties 
to join the council. If it can accomplish this result it ceases 
to be an ex-parte council and becomes a mutual council. 

If an ex-parte council utterly fails to induce both parties 
to join in it and finds reason to believe that there is a 
grievance deserving of its investigation and not remediable 
through any other course, it may proceed in the light of 
such evidence as it has, investigate as fully as it is able to 



284 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

do all the issues involved, and give such advice as the 
premises seem to warrant. 

There is one other special rule of ex-parte councils, 
which is in its nature an exception to all ordinary rules 
governing the call of councils, and this is given under the 
caption, "May a council increase or diminish its own mem- 
bership ?" 

Ex-Parte Council. The churches of New England have a remedy 
for oppression, that is to say, a council. If the church refuse to 
call a council, the aggrieved may do it without them, only inform- 
ing them what he does. If they find the person to have suffered 
palpable injury, they endeavor to convince the church. If the 
church refuse, they order that the person be admitted to some 
other church in the neighborhood, and so to communion with them 
all. — Cotton Mather: Ratio Discipline, p. 158. 

Difference of Opinion No Ground for Ex-Parte Council. Noth- 
ing is more common in a church than for a minority which is 
simply thwarted in some cherished purpose because it is not the 
majority, but which has suffered no impairment of rights, to pro- 
pose to the majority to leave their "difficulties" to a council, and, 
when the proposition has been declined, to fancy they have a good 
case for one ex-parte. They have no case at all. The church has 
no right to ask other churches to do what is its own proper work, 
and the "aggrieved" have no grievance which concerns other 
churches, because their relations with them remain what they al- 
ways have been. Of course any church which desires advice has 
always the right to ask for it. But for a church simply to decline 
to ask advice when some members wish to have advice taken, is 
in itself no sufficient ground for the calling of an ex-parte council. 
It is almost always wise, however, for a church to grant a mutual 
council. — Dexter: Handbook, p. 119. 

May a Council Increase or Diminish Its Own Member- 
ship? A council may not increase or diminish its own 
membership. The full list of members invited to the coun- 
cil should be sent to the churches with the letter missive. 
The list of invited churches is a part of the invitation on 
the basis of which the churches agree to be present in the 
council. A council may not elect corresponding members 
as an Association does. It may permit a visiting brother 
to speak, but not as a member of the council. It may invite 
a visiting minister to participate in the public service, but 
his act in such a service is performed in his capacity as a 
minister of the gospel and not as a member of the council. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 285 

The rule that a council's membership cannot be changed 
is, with a single exception, an invariable one. There should 
be reason in all things, and this rule should not be so en- 
forced as to forbid correction of a mere clerical error, but 
even such an error should not be allowed to stand if there 
is any serious question of intent which might invalidate the 
finding of the council. If a court were called to review the 
rinding of a council and it were shown that the council had 
increased its membership, the court would almost certainly 
decide that the council was irregular and its rinding invalid. 
There is only one exception to the rule that a council 
may not change its membership. That exception is impor- 
tant, and should be noted. When an ex-parte council is 
offering its services as a mutual council, if the other party 
objects to the council as constituted but is willing to accept 
it if there be added to its membership one or more churches 
or ministers in good and regular standing, and the party 
inviting the council accepts and the ex-parte council joins 
in the acceptance of the added members, the ex-parte council 
in re-organizing as a mutual council may thus increase its 
membership. On the same principle, if one member of the 
ex-parte council were strongly objected to as being violently 
prejudiced and he were willing to withdraw from the coun- 
cil for the sake of making it acceptable to the hitherto un- 
willing party, the council might change its membership by 
the omission of his name, but this could only be done where 
all parties were agreed to it, including the member with- 
drawing. If he, or his church, insisted upon his right to 
remain in the council, that right would have to be conceded. 

Is the Conciliar System an Adequate Protection of Our 
Churches? The conciliar system is a useful system, but 
standing alone is not an adequate protection of our churches. 
President Nash has called attention in forceful words to 
the peril of councils of ordination apart from the action of 
responsible and permanent bodies: 

Over some case of ministerial delinquency or impotence we ask, 
Who ordained this man? A council in Northeastern Maine or 



286 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Southwestern California. Write that council and charge back its 
blunder upon it; bid it recall those ordination papers and terminate 
the mischievous or ineffective career. Impossible; the deed was 
done by an agency irresponsible, created for the work of an hour 
with endless consequences, and falling apart before sunset. — Con- 
gregational Administration, p. 92. 

If the conciliar system is to be retained as an integral 
part of our Congregational system, it must be strengthened 
and compassed with checks and balances by authority dele- 
gated by the churches to their permanent representative 
bodies, especially to the District Association. For a full 
discussion of the merits of the conciliar system, with some 
predictions for its growth which have not been as yet ful- 
filled, the reader is referred to the able paper on "The 
Future of Ecclesiastical Councils" by Rev. Henry A. Hazen, 
Secretary of the National Council, in the Records of the 
Council of 1898, p. 166. 

The Future of Ecclesiastical Councils. Ecclesiastical councils 
are among the most characteristic and logical products of our 
American Congregationalism. Our fundamental postulate, the in- 
dependence of the local church, subject to no higher authority than 
that of the Master, necessitates a doctrine of fellowship, which shall 
set these churches in a practical and working harmony. Without 
this the unfriendly taunt of the "rope of sand" would have some 
foundation, and we should be properly a laughing stock to our 
neighbors, who cultivate a more highly developed ecclesiasticism. 
As has been wisely said more than once, independence and fellow- 
ship are the foci of our ellipse; one is not more fundamental than 
the other. 

Of the fellowship of the churches, our system of ecclesiastical 
councils was, for two hundred years, the chief form of expression. 
Through this the churches touched hands and came into step with 
each other. In true neighborly fashion they shared each other's 
joys and helped each other in trial and difficulty. When a new 
church was organized, when a pastor was ordained, installed, or 
dismissed, or when any complication arose, significant enough to 
justify the hearing and advice of sister churches, they answered 
each other's call, and gave such fraternal expression to their com- 
mon interest and life, as cemented their relations, and gave them 
vitality and power in their common service of the Master. 

When the population increased, the means of communication 
multiplied, and neighbors were not so far apart, the churches, nat- 
urally, sought other and ampler forms for expressing their fellow- 
ship. Practically, through their various missionary societies, and 
more formally through conferences and associations, they have 
organized their fellowship, until the ecclesiastical council, instead 
of being its chief form of expression, has taken comparatively ?» 
secondary place. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 287 

But these later organs of fellowship, while healthfully supple- 
menting, cannot supersede the ecclesiastical council. We cannot 
transfer the functions of councils to associations and conferences 
without setting up an ecclesiastical organism which would imperil 
our liberties. Such permanent bodies, if entrusted with the func- 
tions of councils, ordination and installation of ministers, their dis- 
mission, and the advising of the churches in such cases of difficulty 
as are always sure to arise while men and women remain imper- 
fectly sanctified, would acquire a perilous taste of power. The 
appetite, as human nature is, would grow with what it fed upon, 
and we should soon have tribunals setting up authority and issuing 
edicts to which the churches would be expected to bow. But the 
council is a safe depository of these functions. When its result is 
reached and its advice given it disappears. There is no standing 
moderator or committee to enforce its edicts or call the churches 
to account for disregard of them. Its result has just so much force 
as lies in the reason of it; and in this, its appeal to reason and 
sound common sense is one of the chief characteristics and bul- 
warks of our Congregationalism. The evanescence of the council 
is the strength of the conciliary system. The council comes, does 
its work, and disappears. One council is not and cannot be a step- 
ping-stone to another, and the liberties of the churches are just as 
safe after its adjournment as before it convened. 

First, then, I affirm, what my subject implies, a future for our 
conciliary system. It is not outworn or decadent. Its functions, 
in safeguarding the character and standing of the ministry, and the 
peace of the churches, are likely to be as important in the future 
as in the past. It will remain the most feasible, the most pliable, 
and the safest agency through which the churches can secure the 
important results for which they have looked to this system. Mod- 
ern methods and appliances have no tendency to displace it. — 
Henry A. Hazen, in National Council Minutes, 1898. 

Haw May the Churches Control a Council? Strictly 
construed, the status of individual members of a council 
ought to be that of honorary members, but the custom of 
inviting such members has been of gradual growth, and 
it has seemed invidious to rule against them, or to make 
any distinction between them and those members who 
represent the churches. An instance has been known in a 
time of theological uncertainty in which a church, desiring 
to ordain a member for foreign missionary service, called a 
council in which a clear majority of the members invited, 
and a majority of the council as the roll was made, consisted 
of individuals, most of whom were either missionaries or of- 
ficers of the missionary society under which the member 
proposed to labor. Such a council may be called, and if the 
churches invited accept the invitation, its finding is valid. 



288 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

But if a clear line of division should arise, the members rep- 
resenting the churches on the one side, and the individual 
members on the other, the former have one remedy against 
being outvoted by the individual members present. That 
remedy is that the delegates from churches may leave in a 
body, and remain absent till the individuals in the council 
come to terms. Individual members do not count in the 
making of a quorum. The members who represent churches 
can leave such a council without a quorum. 



XVII. THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 

What Is an Association? An association is a body com- 
posed of the Congregational churches and ministers of a 
given district or territory, voluntarily associated for Chris- 
tian fellowship and the transaction of the common business 
of the churches and ministers composing it. As such it is 
authorized to represent the churches in the ordination, in- 
stallation, dismission, discipline, and deposition of ministers. 
The Association is the depository of ministerial standing of 
all pastors of churches within its bounds, and of ministers 
not in pastoral service who are members of said churches. 
It may be an incorporated body, capable of holding property 
for the general interests of the churches composing it. It 
may possess also the powers of a standing council, exercis- 
ing the same either through the whole body of its member- 
ship or through an advisory committee elected by and 
responsible to the Association. It is a delegate body, com- 
posed ordinarily of one pastor and one or more delegates 
from each constituent church, and having in addition a 
ministerial membership composed of pastors and other min- 
isters within its bounds. 

As thus constituted, the Association has many of the 
powers belonging to the Consociation of Connecticut, and 
includes the functions which in some of the older states 
were divided between Associations of Pastors and Confer- 
ences of Churches. 

It will be interesting and profitable to compare at this 
point the exceedingly brief treatment of Associations and 
Conferences as the functions of these were interpreted by 
Dr. Dexter. 

Associations. An Association is a meeting of pastors in the aim 
to help each other in their common work. Such meetings have 
existed in New England since a very early date. The pastors of 
ten, twenty, or thirty neighboring churches — grouped, and limited, 
by considerations of mutual convenience — come together thus, 
twice, thrice, or four times a year, and spend a day, or more, in 
exercises for intellectual, spiritual, and professional improvement. 



290 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

As a matter of convenience, advantage has been taken of these 
regular assemblages of the pastors, by candidates for the pulpit, 
to present themselves, after thorough training, for examination for 
a certificate of approval — in common parlance, "for licensure." 

In some of the states, delegates from these district bodies meet 
once a year to constitute a General Association of the state; the 
printed report of whose annual meeting is made to include the 
statistics of the Congregational churches in that commonwealth. 

While these Associations are very helpful to pastors, and 
through them to their flocks, it is a fundamental principle, usually, 
if not universally, expressed in their constitutions, that they have 
no direct connection with the churches, and no claim to any 
shadow of authority over them. 

Conferences. A Conference is an assemblage of pastors and 
delegates of churches, assembled, not, like a council, on the special 
call of a sister church for some isolated service toward light and 
peace, but in virtue of a constitution providing for periodical meet- 
ings, for mutual prayer, communion, advice, and helpfulness. As 
in the case of Pastoral Associations, the size, boundaries, etc., of 
these Conferences, are dictated by convenience. 

As with Associations, a distinct disavowal of all ecclesiastical 
control is usually, and very properly, a fundamental article of their 
confederation. 

In some of the states, delegations from these local conferences 
meet annually in a General Conference representing all the Con- 
gregational churches in the state; and their minutes carry the an- 
nual statistics. — Dexter: Congregationalism, pp. 226-227. 

The foregoing represents what passed for good Congre- 
gationalism, but ought never to have been accounted such 
in its own day, and now may be regarded as thoroughly 
obsolete. An Association of ministers existing as a volun- 
tary club ought never to have exercised the function, and 
never properly could have exercised the right, of licensing 
candidates for the ministry. No body, of whatever men 
composed, should be entrusted with so important a duty if 
it counts it "a fundamental principle, usually if not univer- 
sally expressed in the constitution, that they have no direct 
connection with the churches." 

In certain of the older states where such Associations 
existed and have now become an organic part of the Asso- 
ciations of churches covering the same territory, the Asso- 
ciation of churches has constituted the Association of min- 
isters its committee on licensure. This is an orderly pro- 
cedure, but in all such cases the authority resides, and 
should reside, with the churches. 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 291 

Nor would it any longer be regarded as orderly for a 
State Conference to be composed of delegates from local 
Conferences or District Associations. The churches have a 
right to direct representation in their state, as truly as in 
their district, bodies. 

It will therefore appear on careful study that the newer 
Congregationalism, so far as it relates to Associations of 
churches and ministers, is more truly Congregational than 
that of Dexter's day, but in it the Association of churches 
has risen to new dignity and cannot be dismissed in a 
single brief paragraph chiefly concerned with setting forth 
the things which the associated churches may not do. 

As the local church has its own autonomy and all rights 
belonging to it as a local body are jealously to be guarded, 
so the churches in their district grouping have an autonomy. 
There are certain matters wherein the autonomy of the 
group is quite as sacred as the autonomy of the local con- 
gregation. There are cases wherein it becomes the duty 
of the Association by virtue of its own autonomy to protect 
the churches at large, for instance, against an unworthy 
minister, who might be retained through the wilfulness of 
the dominating faction in a single local church; but the 
Association can do nothing that in any way limits the 
autonomy of the local church acting within and for itself. 

A local church may elect a notoriously unworthy man 
to be its pastor, and the Association cannot displace him 
from that position, but it can refuse to admit him to its own 
membership, and can proceed thus in the exercise of its 
own autonomy: 

(a) The Association can bracket the name of such a 
minister as it appears in the pastor's column in its own 
statistics and in the Year Book opposite the name of said 
church. 

(b) It can omit his name altogether if it has deposed 
him from the ministry. 

(c) It can give the said minister only the standing of a 
layman if he appears as a representative of the church in 



292 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

any meeting of the Association ; and can refuse the church 
other lay representation. 

(d) It can withdraw fellowship from said church alto- 
gether if it persist in a course which brings discredit upon 
the churches as a whole. 

How Did Associations Originate? From the beginning 
of Congregationalism in New England the need was felt 
for some body representative of the churches and more per- 
manent than councils, but fear was felt lest such bodies 
should become subversive of the liberties of the churches. 

Upham, in his "Ratio Disciplinse," traces the plans for 
the establishing of permanent Associations and Conferences 
of churches back to the Synod of 1662, and even to John 
Cotton, who, near the time of his death, drew up a plan 
for such conferences, which may be found in Increase 
Mather's First Principles ("Ratio Discip.," 240-249). In yet 
another place, Increase Mather admitted the inadequacy of 
councils that had no permanent existence. 

That there should be such a consociation, agreeing among 
themselves that no new churches shall be owned by them, or 
pastor ordained or deposed without them, ... is not only lawful, 
but absolutely necessary for the establishment of these churches. — 
Disq. Eccl. Councils. 

This necessity which was felt in the very earliest period 
of New England's ecclesiastical life, grew imperative when 
Congregationalism crossed the Hudson. 

Conferences or Synods. Synods orderly assembled, and rightly 
proceeding according to the pattern, Acts 15, we acknowledge as 
the ordinance of Christ: and though not absolutely necessary to 
the being, yet many times, through the iniquity of men, and 
perverseness of times, necessary to the well-being of churches, for 
the establishment of truth and peace therein. — Cambridge Plat- 
form, xvi, 1. 

The Association. The association of churches at once approved 
itself and spread rapidly. It now covers all our churches. And so 
true is it to Congregationalism, that its function has been steadily 
enlarged, till it has come to be our pivotal fellowship body. — Nash: 
Cong. Administration, p. 85. 

The central wheel of our system, as it is today, is undoubtedly 
the District Association. It is a combination of the churches 
within a reasonable area, for the purpose of stimulating fellowship 
and united action. Already we have made it the only ecclesiastical 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 293 

body in our system by vesting in it the responsibility for ministe- 
rial standing. — De Forest: Congregational Fellowship and Over- 
sight, p. 33. 

Congregational churches are grouped into local or 
District Associations, bodies which formerly existed solely 
for fellowship. Originally they were purely voluntary, but 
it is no longer accurate to describe them by this term. A 
Congregational church has full liberty to withhold itself 
from fellowship in an Association and to withdraw from the 
Association at its pleasure, but a church so outstanding or 
withdrawn, while Congregational in government, is not re- 
ported in the records of the denomination as a Congrega- 
tional church. It therefore is no longer strictly accurate to 
speak of the Association as a voluntary body. 

Less Usurpation Now than in Early Days. There is no danger 
to liberty in escaping from the perils of consociationism. In 1708 
twelve ministers and four laymen met by order of the Assembly 
or Legislature of Connecticut at Saybrook, to devise a remedy for 
the evils of lax discipline consequent upon the growing separation 
of Church and State. They framed and issued the Saybrook Plat- 
form, which the said legislature, without any further approval of 
the churches, made the established ecclesiastical order of Con- 
necticut (Bacon's Hist. Address, in Contrib. to Eccl. Hist. Ct. 38, 
39). This Platform consociated the churches of a county, or of 
a definite part of a county, into an ecclesiastical body called a 
consociation. Cases of discipline could be carried to a council 
composed of the churches consociated together, which should give 
"a final issue, and all parties therein concerned shall sit down and 
be determined thereby"; or, if the case were too large or difficult 
for one consociation to handle, another might join with it in deter- 
mining the final issue (Saybrook Plat., Art. V, 7). This Platform 
has had a double interpretation, one of which regards it as purely 
Congregational in principle and results; but the other regards it 
as subversive of the independence of the local churches and as 
introducing into consociations the fundamental principle of Pres- 
byterianism (Contrib. Eccl. Hist, 40 et seq.). The latter was the 
view of the Hartford North Association of Ministers (Gillett's Hist. 
Presby. Ch., i, 438, 439, note). This Platform, by going too far in 
remedying "the defects of discipline in the churches" occasioned 
by the partial but growing separation of Church and State, hin- 
dered the introduction of a better method, until the system of con- 
sociated churches had been largely neglected in Connecticut, and 
prevented its spread into other colonies and states. Yet the Say- 
brook Platform saved every church in Connecticut from the Uni- 
tarian apostasy, which carried over so many of the unassociated 
churches of Massachusetts. This plan of consociation now em- 
braces only four bodies, and these are in Connecticut, — Ross: 
Church-Kingdom, pp. 366-367. 



294 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Organization from Below. Our organific direction is from be- 
low upward. We do not begin with overlords, whether called 
bishops or superintendents or ministers. We begin with common 
men, free individuals, uncoerced, associating themselves in volun- 
tary local churches, each church as free in its own domain as the 
souls that compose it. — Nash: Congregational Administration, p. 15. 

Local Autonomy Not Endangered. If it be recognized that the 
government of each particular church is in its membership, we 
may adopt diocesan and connexional methods of administration, 
not only without mischief, but even with the best results. — Macken- 
nal: Address to Congregational Union of England and Wales. 

Have We District Associations or Local Associations? 

The term, District Association, has not been in common use 
among us. In our confusion of terminology, we were ac- 
customed to speak of the local Association in contradistinc- 
tion from the state Association. But having now State 
Conferences we do not need the word local to distinguish 
between the two. Moreover, the word local is inaccurate, 
and is applied to the individual church. In the present 
work the term local is restricted ; and reference is made to 
the local church; the District Association; and the State 
Conference. 

Is the Association a Menace to Local Autonomy? Con- 
gregational churches, while self-governing and subject to 
no ecclesiastical authority in their local affairs, are more 
than independent units. They meet unitedly in district, 
state and national bodies. The development of these bodies, 
their approach to uniformity of organization, and the in- 
crease in the measure of responsibility delegated to them 
by the churches, constitute one of the most significant facts 
in recent Congregational history. 

Is the Association a Voluntary Body? In the beginning 
an Association was a purely voluntary body, but at the 
present this cannot be affirmed of it. The Association has 
an organic relation to our denominational life. 

What Is a Ministerial Association? In certain of the 
New England states ministerial Associations existed sep- 
arate from those related to the Association of the churches. 
Inevitable confusion in the use of the terms has arisen from 
this fact. Much of the older Congregational literature deny- 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 295 

ing the power of Associations grew out of the definitions 
of Associations which limited them to voluntary ministerial 
bodies. Dr. Dexter and other Congregational authorities of 
his day were emphatic in their declarations that Associa- 
tions were purely voluntary and had no authority whatever. 
This was true and is true of the Association as these author- 
ities conceived it, which was that of a mere voluntary min- 
isterial club. 

But in Congregational practice even these ministerial 
Associations were something more and other than volun- 
tary clubs. They covered more or less exactly the territory 
of corresponding groups of churches, and the pastors of 
those churches and the ministers without churches residing 
within the bounds of the Association were expected to 
belong to these ministerial bodies. Their certificates passed 
for credentials of good standing. Commonly they assumed 
the right to issue licenses to preach the gospel. The older 
theory covering these ministerial Associations as mere 
voluntary and unrelated organizations never was consistent. 
They never had a logical place in the Congregational sys- 
tem as such unrelated bodies. 

Where Associations of ministers existed and the Associa- 
tions of churches have reorganized in recent years, some 
interesting problems have arisen as to the relations of the 
two bodies. It is not necessary that the Association of 
ministers disband. It can so modify its own by-laws as to 
become an integral part of the Association of churches and 
ministers, and it can hold its separate meetings for fellow- 
ship. The Association of churches can make the Associa- 
tion of ministers its committee on licensure and on minis- 
terial standing, but this committee should report to the 
Association of churches and ministers. Cummings gives 
the following account of the use of ministerial Associa- 
tions : 

After the year 1675, and perhaps earlier (Pres. Stiles says about 
1670), after great desolations by the Indian wars, the neighbor- 
ing ministers in several counties in New England met together to 
pray; and subsequently they began to discuss subjects of common 



296 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

interest at their meetings. At length, some "presbyterially in- 
clined" ministers began to dignify their meetings with the name 
of "Classes." Thus matters progressed until, in 1705, an effort 
was made by one of these Associations to combine all the min- 
isters in the country into similar bodies, for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a Consociation with powers similar to those afterwards 
claimed by the Consociations of Connecticut. They issued their 
proposals, bearing date November 5, 1705. These proposals were 
successfully resisted by "divers godly ministers" at the time, 
though they afterwards prevailed, by the interference of state au- 
thority, in Connecticut. In Massachusetts, however, Associations 
from this time became general, but have neither held nor claimed 
any ecclesiastical authority, such as was designed in the "Pro- 
posals," with the single exception of examining and licensing 
candidates. Two attempts have since been made to give ecclesias- 
tical authority to ministerial associations; but they have been signal 
failures. — Cong. Diet., Associations. 

Are Ministerial Associations Desirable? It is desirable 
that ministers form organizations of their own for fellow- 
ship and conference ; but it would tend to prevent confusion 
if these voluntary bodies would avoid the name of Associa- 
tion. 

Should Ministerial Standing Repose in Associations of 
Ministers? In some of the older states ministerial standing 
lies in Associations of ministers apart from Associations of 
churches. This, however, cannot be called good Congre- 
gationalism. Where it obtains the Association of ministers 
should become an organic part of the Association of 
churches and may then receive or administer such authority 
as churches delegate to it in the matter of ministerial stand- 
ing. 

What Is a Consociation? The term consociation, for- 
merly used to describe an ecclesiastical body which was 
practically a standing council, has disappeared from our 
denominational nomenclature except in Connecticut, whose 
Consociations differ little from Associations. 

The Boston Synod of 1662 declared that every church 
has "full power and authority ecclesiastical within itself, 
regularly to administer all the ordinances of Christ, and is 
not under any other ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever: 
. . . hence it follows, that Consociations are not to hinder 
the exercise of this power, but by counsel from the word of 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 297 

God to direct and strengthen the same upon all just occa- 
sions." They go on to define the objects of Consociations, 
and to recommend them to the churches. Samuel Mather 
shows that a Consociation of churches was acknowledged 
by the early New England Congregationalists, in the sense 
of asking light, but without authority to govern. 

Consociations. Trumbull informs us, that in 1659 the General 
Court of Connecticut ordered a council, the decision whereof should 
be final. The General Court of Massachusetts endeavored to es- 
tablish the same thing, and so called the synod of 1662. These 
synods embraced not only all the ministers of the colony whose 
legislature called them, but also certain specified individuals of the 
other colonies, to ensure majorities. But they failed of such a 
majority in Connecticut, through this over-management. The 
Boston Synod was more successful, and recommended a consocia- 
tion, having first, however, premised that it should be shorn of its 
locks, by being stripped of judicial power. 

About the beginning of the eighteenth century, Cotton Mather 
having converted his father in his dotage, led in a strenuous effort 
to establish a virtual consociation. Proposals were introduced into 
the Boston Association, and through them to the Massachusetts 
Convention; but they were successfully opposed by John Wise of 
Ipswich and others. The proposals, which may be seen in Wise's 
"Quarrel of the Churches Espoused," were rejected in Massa- 
chusetts, but were soon received in Connecticut, and from that 
time have formed the basis of their Consociations. — Cummings: 
Cong. Diet., Consociations; Trumbull /Hist. Conn., ch. xiii. 

Have Associations Definite Territorial Boundaries? It 

is desirable in general that an Association should embrace 
a compact body or territory and include all the churches 
within that territory and none beyond. It is not generally 
advisable that a church should separate itself from its own 
group of churches and go past other churches of the vicin- 
age for fellowship with an association more remote. Yet 
no hard and fast rule can be laid down governing territorial 
limits. The English-speaking churches of a given state 
may constitute the membership of five or ten or any other 
number of Associations, and divide the territory by 
counties, or according to railroad systems or other means 
of transportation, as is found convenient. There may also 
exist an Association of the German or Scandinavian 
churches of the whole state, or of a part of the state, terri- 
torially overlapping all or part of the other Associations. 



298 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

A problem of peculiar difficulty sometimes presents itself 
in those states where there is a considerable number of col- 
ored churches and in which there are two organizations, 
one of the white and the other of the colored churches. A 
double organization of this character may not be ideal, and 
yet because of the practical difficulties involved in a single 
organization it may be not only permissible but advisable. 
At any rate, there is no superior ecclesiastical authority 
that can compel two groups of churches to unite in one 
Association. An unhappy condition of affairs prevailed in 
the vicinity of the city of New York in the years following 
the Beecher trial, in which the churches in a given territory 
were divided into two overlapping Associations. This was 
unfortunate, but in time it adjusted itself, as such difficulties 
are fairly certain to do without outside pressure. 

The rule, therefore, is that while it is generally desirable 
that a Congregational Association include all the churches 
in a given district, and only the churches within that district, 
conditions may arise and have arisen that have caused terri- 
torial overlapping, and an Association otherwise regular 
cannot be deemed irregular for this reason alone. 

But this principle must not be interpreted in such man- 
ner as to permit discourtesy on the part of one Association 
to another. If an Association of churches in Iowa were to 
withdraw fellowship from a church situated within that 
state, it would not be permissible for the Association of 
Rhode Island to admit the excluded Iowa church to its 
membership. If the Association of Rhode Island believed 
that the Association of Iowa had done wrong it could pre- 
sent its reasons for so believing to the offending Associa- 
tion, or ask for a mutual council, but it would not be justi- 
fied in the attempt to correct a wrong by an arbitrary gerry- 
mander. 

Association Not for State and National Work. As concerns 
service in the Kingdom of God, the Association's field remains 
small; our extensive ministries must go through state and national 
organizations. But as concerns orderly and responsible organiza- 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 299 

tion, the Association is the most important of our fellowship 
bodies. — Nash: Cong. Administration, p. 85. 

How May a Church Unite with an Association? A 

church organized within the bounds of an Association may 
acquire membership in said Association: 

(i) By voting at a regular meeting of the church, called 
in accordance with the provision of its own constitution, to 
apply for membership in said Association, and electing del- 
egates, including its pastor, to attend its forthcoming meet- 
ing. 

(2) By submitting its constitution, covenant, and rec- 
ords for the examination of said Association, either directly 
or through its advisory committee. 

(3) By vote of the Association receiving it into fellow- 
ship. 

(4) By thereafter continuing its relations with the Asso- 
ciation in the payment of its dues and by representation in 
its gatherings. 

Local Church the Unit. The local church, thus principled., be- 
comes the vital unit for all the larger forms in the polity. Out of 
it, not from individual Christians, arise those larger forms. — Nash: 
Cong. Administration, p. 17. 

How May a Church Withdraw from an Association? 

Membership in a Congregational Association being volun- 
tary, yet according to the rules laid down in its constitu- 
tion, a church may withdraw from the fellowship of one 
Association and unite with another : 

(a) By formal vote of the church at a properly called 
meeting. 

(b) By formal request in writing, asking the Associa- 
tion to dismiss the church that makes the request. 

(c) By vote of the Association dismissing the church. 

How May a Church Be Received from Another Ecclesi- 
astical Body? A church dismissed by one Association or 
by a similar body of another denomination, or an inde- 
pendent church belonging to no Association, may be re- 
ceived into a Congregational Association on its own appli- 



300 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

cation by vote of the church, the election of delegates, and 
the approval of its constitution, covenant, and rules. 

How May a Church Withdraw from the Congregational 
Denomination? A Congregational church desiring to be- 
come independent or to unite with another denomination 
may do so: 

(a) By its own vote at a regularly called meeting. Such 
a vote, however, being in effect an amendment of the con- 
stitution, must be carried by at least two-thirds of the mem- 
bership of the church or by such larger vote as the consti- 
tution requires. 

(b) By application for dismission from the Congrega- 
tional Association of which it is a member. 

(c) By favorable action upon said dismission. 

A church withdrawing from the Congregational denom- 
ination may not properly unite with another ecclesiastical 
body until it is regularly dismissed ; nor should any church 
be received into the Congregational fellowship until it has 
fully severed all relations with other ecclesiastical bodies. 

May a Church Be a Member of Two Associations? It is 
ecclesiastically impossible for a church to be a member of 
two Associations at one and the same time. If a church 
applies for admission to an Association while still being a 
member of another ecclesiastical body and is accepted 
under the impression that its previous membership had been 
terminated, its membership in the second body should be 
held to be incomplete until it has adjusted its former 
ecclesiastical relations. In case of a church coming from 
another denomination which refuses to dismiss it for the 
purpose of joining a Congregational Association, the ques- 
tion must be decided according to the polity of the former 
organization. In any disputed case the Congregational 
membership must be regarded as complete only upon the 
orderly termination of the previous membership. 

Has an Association a Right to Demand Creed Tests of 
Its Members? When an Association was regarded as a 
voluntary club, it could claim the right of setting up any 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 301 

conditions which it chose for membership in its body. The 
situation has been materially altered in the present inter- 
pretation of the office of an Association. It has an un- 
doubted right to assure itself of the doctrinal soundness of 
its members, but it cannot exercise this right in an arbitrary 
spirit or in mere caprice. Membership in an Association 
has now become an absolute essential in ministerial stand- 
ing. It is no longer a voluntary matter. In the strict sense, 
therefore, an Association should have no creed tests of its 
own, but only such doctrinal requirements as assure it of 
the essential soundness of its members. 

An Association, therefore, should be both more and less 
rigid than formerly in this particular. It should be less 
rigid because it has no right to submit any arbitrary tests 
of its own. It is under obligation to provide ministerial 
standing for every accredited Congregational minister called 
to labor within its bounds. It cannot refuse to do this 
arbitrarily or vindictively without danger of very grave 
injustice. On the other hand, as representing the churches, 
it should guard with exceeding great care the purity of 
those churches and of their ministry. Its right and duty 
are commensurate with its responsibility as the repository 
of ministerial standing. 

No Creed Tests. They may have a platform by way of pro- 
fession of their faith, but not a binding rule of faith and practice. 
. . . If so, then they ensnare men attending more to the form 
of doctrine delivered from the authority of the church . . . 
than to the examining thereof according to the Scriptures. — 
Richard Mather: Ch. Govt., p. 64. 

It is the greatest possible tyranny over men's souls to make 
other men's judgments the rule of my conscience. — Burton: Re- 
joinder to Prynne, p. 19. 

It is the design of these churches to make the terms of com- 
munion run parallel as may be with the terms of salvation. A 
charitable consideration of nothing but true piety, in admitting to 
evangelical privileges, is a glory which the churches of New Eng- 
land would lay claim to. — Cotton Mather: Ratio Discipline, p. 90. 

May an Association Withdraw Fellowship from a 
Church? An Association, for good cause shown, may with- 
draw fellowship from a church within its bounds. This 



302 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

should be done, however, only in the case of some scan- 
dalous refusal on the part of the church to right some 
wrong affecting the welfare of the churches as a whole. 
An Association has no authority to withdraw fellowship 
from a church by reason of some matter of its own internal 
management, but if a church were making itself responsible 
for some grave doctrinal error or were bringing reproach 
upon all the churches by reason of its responsibility for 
serious moral scandal, the Association, after faithfully labor- 
ing with it, might properly after due warning withdraw 
fellowship from the church. 

The early churches exercised this function in the famous 
"third way of communion." 

The "Third Way." A third way then of communion of churches, 
is by way of admonition; to wit, in case any public offense be 
found in a church, which they either discern not, or are slow in 
proceeding to use the means for the removing and healing of. 
Paul had no authority over Peter, yet when he saw Peter not 
walking with a right foot, he publicly rebuked him before the 
church. Though churches have no more authority one over an- 
other, than one apostle had over another, yet as one apostle might 
admonish another, so may one church admonish another, and yet 
without usurpation. In which case, if the church that lieth under 
offense, do not hearken to the church that doth admonish her, the 
church is to acquaint other neighbor churches with that offense 
which the offending church still lieth under, together with their 
neglect of their brotherly admonition given unto them; whereupon 
those other churches are to join in seconding the admonition 
formerly given; and if still the offending church continue in ob- 
stinacy and impenitency, they may forbear communion with them, 
and are to proceed to make use of the help of a synod, or 
council of neighbor churches walking orderly (if a greater cannot 
conveniently be had) for their conviction. If they hear not the 
synod, the synod having declared them to be obstinate, particu- 
lar churches approving and accepting the judgment of the synod, 
are to declare the sentence of non-communion respectively con- 
cerning them; and thereupon, out of religious care to keep their 
own communion pure, they may justly withdraw themselves from 
participation with them at the Lord's table, and from such other 
acts of holy communion, as the communion of churches doth other- 
wise allow and require. Nevertheless, if any member of such a 
church as liveth under public offense, do not consent to the offense 
of the church, but do in due sort bear witness against it, they are 
still to be received to wonted communion; for it is not equal that 
the innocent should suffer with the offensive. Yea, furthermore, 
if such innocent members, after due waiting in the use of all good 
means for the healing of the offense of their church, shall at last, 
with the allowance of the council of neighbor churches, withdraw 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 303 

from the fellowship of their own church, and offer themselves to 
the fellowship of another, we judge it lawful for the other church 
to receive them (being otherwise fit) as if they had been orderly- 
dismissed to them from their own church. — Cambridge Platform, 
xv, 3. 

In general it is better that so solemn an act as the with- 
drawal of fellowship from a church should be exercised by 
no single church but by the churches acting through a 
council, or preferably through the Association of which the 
erring church is a member. "The third way" may be re- 
garded as obsolete. 

What Is the Status of a Church from Which the Fellow- 
ship of an Association Has Been Withdrawn? A church 
from which fellowship has been withdrawn in an orderly 
manner by the Congregational Association, or by a mutual 
council representing such Association and the church, has 
the standing of an independent Congregational church. It 
may unite with another ecclesiastical body, or may by vote 
be restored to membership in the Association and thus in 
the Congregational body. Its standing as a Congregational 
church is impaired, but not destroyed by such withdrawal. 
It is an independent church, Congregational in government, 
but outside the Congregational fellowship. 

What Is the Standing of Ministers in the Association? 
Every Congregational minister in good standing must be 
a member of some District Association, which should ordi- 
narily be the Association in which he resides; or if he is a 
pastor, in an Association within whose bounds his church 
is located. A church and its minister should have member- 
ship in the same Association. 

Ministers not pastors are members of District Associa- 
tions and commonly have all the privileges belonging to 
pastors in the Association. An Association has the right, 
however, to limit the privilege of voting to pastors and 
accredited delegates from the churches. This measure has 
frequently been proposed in Associations having a consider- 
able number of retired ministers. In general, however, 
these members have conducted themselves with such pro- 



304 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

priety, and being men of experience, have brought to the 
body such wisdom, that their counsel has been gladly 
sought and their right to vote unchallenged. Inasmuch, 
however, as Associations are primarily Associations of the 
churches, it has sometimes been held that even a pastor, 
while entitled to the floor, might not be permitted to vote 
unless specifically authorized by his church. The right of 
an Association cannot be questioned to provide some re- 
strictions of ballot, particularly for those members who 
have permanently retired from the pastorate and have 
entered into business relations. When men once active in 
the ministry have entered into any secular calling, who 
desire for any good reason to retain their ministerial stand- 
ing, the churches may very properly restrict their member- 
ship so that it shall not include the right to vote on matters 
strictly relating to the conduct of the churches. The wis- 
dom of this arrangement is likely to be felt more as the 
advice of the Associations to the churches comes to be more 
nearly authoritative. The churches will insist that any 
word from the Association which they are expected to heed 
be uttered by their own pastors and lay delegates. 

Shall the Minister Vote? The question often is asked, 
Shall the single vote of the pastor in the Association bal- 
ance the vote of the church through its lay delegate? And, 
what is more important, shall the vote of the minister who 
is without a church be equal to that of the pastor of the 
church, and equally binding upon the church? 

This is a serious question, and one which Associations 
have been called upon to consider, particularly in cities 
where a large number of ministers without charge, secre- 
taries, professors, editors and superannuated ministers, are 
gathered in considerable number. It has seriously been 
proposed to make these men honorary and not voting mem- 
bers of their Associations ; and there is something to be said 
in defense of this proposition, especially in matters relating 
to the government of the churches, as for instance the ap- 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 305 

portionment of denominational expenses among the 
churches. 

The Vote of the Minister in Associations. Three practices now 
in vogue among us may be stated as follows: (a) In some As- 
sociations all ministers hold personal voting membership; (b) in 
other Associations there is no ministerial membership, but pastors 
are ex-officio delegates and voting members of the meetings; other 
ministers have no place in any meeting save as duly elected dele- 
gates of churches; (c) in still other Associations even pastors hold 
an ex-officio place in the meetings, but must be elected as dele- 
gates. 

It is easy to object to any one of these arrangements, but the 
most just and consistent solution does not instantly appear. Min- 
isterial membership, giving each minister, whether pastor or not, 
voting rights in every meeting, puts a minister on a par with a 
church, gives him undue prominence in the meetings and the 
organization generally, and introduces a double and disparate mem- 
bership. On the other hand, to refuse ministerial membership is 
liable to injustice. For the minister, not the pastor only, is held 
under responsibilities peculiar to him, not shared by any layman, 
shared only by a church. We Congregationalists — and freemen 
generally — have a very vital rubric entitled "no taxation without 
representation." We feel like insisting in simple justice that one 
who is held to unique accountability must be given unique rights 
in the organization which holds him. 

There are times when ordinary injustice at this point would be 
magnified into grievous wrong. The discipline of a minister as 
church member belongs in the church which holds his member- 
ship. But his discipline as minister belongs in the Association 
which holds his standing. It is a grave question whether he 
ought to be held amenable to disciplinary action by a body in 
which voting membership is denied him, and in which his fellow 
ministers, likewise excluded from membership, have no right to 
give judgment in his trial. — Nash: Cong. Administration, pp. 105- 
106. 

What Is the Place in an Association of the Minister 
Who Is Not a Pastor? In the old Congregationalism of 
New England a minister was a layman outside of his own 
parish, and as soon as he was dismissed from it his ordina- 
tion terminated. Installation was another ordination and 
was performed with the laying on of hands. John Cotton 
did not baptize his son "Seaborn" on the voyage to America 
because he held that "a minister hath no power to give the 
seals but in his own congregation." 

Ministerial Authority Ceases When Pastoral Relation Ter- 
minates. Church officers are officers to one church, even that par- 
ticular church over which the Holy Ghost hath made them over- 



306 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

seers. Insomuch as elders are commanded to feed, not all flocks, 
but that flock which is committed to their faith and trust, and de- 
pendeth upon them. ... He that is clearly loosed from his 
office relation unto that church whereof he was minister, can- 
not be looked at as an officer, nor perform any act of office in any 
other church, unless he be again orderly called unto office; which, 
when it shall be, we know nothing to hinder, but imposition of 
hands also in his ordination ought to be used towards him again. 
For so Paul the Apostle received imposition of hands twice, at 
least, from Ananias. — Cambridge Platfrom, ch. ix, sees. 6, 7. 

Dr. Dexter maintained that this was still the only logical 
theory of the Congregational ministry: 

Strictly speaking, and as a matter of pure logical deduction 
from the principles of the case, it follows that when such a pastor 
ceases to hold his official relation to the church from which he re- 
ceived his elevation to the ministry, he descends into the ranks of 
the laity again, and is no more a minister, until some other church 
shall have elected and ordained (or installed — as all ordinations 
of a man after his first, are usually called) him as its pastor; when 
he resumes the official rank which he had demitted, rising again 
out of the ranks of the laity, to the function of the ministry. He 
has the same right to preach in this interim that he had after his 
licensure before his first ordination, namely: a temporary right of 
courtesy and general consent, until — finding that the Great Head 
does not call him to any pastorship — he shall subside into a mere 
layman; or until he shall be chosen and ordained by some other 
church as its pastor, and become a minister again. This, we say, 
is the necessary verdict of the principles of Congregationalism in 
regard to this matter; as it was the practice of the Fathers. — 
Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 150. 

But this theory, logical as it appeared, was obsolete in 
Dr. Dexter's day, and had begun to be so as far back as the 
day of Cotton Mather, in which it was the opinion of the 
ministry and churches that a minister might administer 
the sacraments to a church without a pastor and that a 
minister did not leave his ordination behind him whenever 
he went from home. 

In truth, we are more nearly logical in this matter than 
we ever were before. Ordination is for life, and not for a 
single pastorate. Installation is a wholly different thing 
from ordination, or, if it is not, then installation must go. 
Membership in an Association, which now has become nec- 
essary to good standing in the ministry, is no longer in any 
proper sense voluntary. The old theory is obsolete, and it 
never was logical. 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 307 

In general it appears to be safe, and also just, that every 
minister should have a vote in the Association of which 
he is a member. The churches may save themselves from 
being overwhelmed by the clergy by increasing the pro- 
portion of lay members, so as to counterbalance the mem- 
bership of ministers ; but it must be confessed to the credit 
of the ministry, that the evils against which it is proposed 
to guard our churches from excess of the unchurched clergy 
are mostly theoretical. One thing is certain : the ministers 
will not consent to a recrudescence of the fallacious theory 
that ministerial standing depends solely upon the pastoral 
relation, nor would the church for a moment desire it. It 
is quite as much for the protection of the churches as it is 
for the welfare of the ministry that ministerial standing is 
lodged in associations of churches; and in the association 
where his standing is held a minister cannot well be denied 
the right to vote on questions that touch that standing. 
Indeed, he may go farther, and declare that in voluntarily 
withdrawing his standing from an association of ministers 
and lodging it in a body which represents the churches also, 
he reserves the right, in matters where his brother ministers 
are likely to be most competent to judge, to be tried by a 
jury of his peers. 

In these matters Congregationalism still lacks something 
of complete consistency; but it is only fair to remember 
that the inconsistency is not wholly of our own making. 
We are making it less, instead of greater. 

What Is the Status of Absent Ministers? Ministerial 
members of an Association transferring their residence to 
another Association should transfer their membership to 
the Association within which they reside, and the names 
of ministers who neglect to do so may be removed from 
the active list and placed upon an absent list, without preju- 
dice to their ministerial standing, but without the privilege 
of active membership. Members who have been some time 
absent without transferring their membership or communi- 



308 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

eating with the Association may have their names dropped 
from the rolls of the Association. 

The foregoing provisions should not be held to apply 
to foreign missionaries who may retain their membership 
in their home Association, and should be administered in 
a spirit of tenderness and consideration, and also in the 
case of elderly and retired ministers not engaged in secular 
business who have good cause to desire to continue their 
membership in the Associations with which they have long 
been connected. 

Chaplains in the army or navy, also, should be kept in 
orderly membership in an Association, even if for many 
years they are absent from its territorial bounds. 

May an Association Incorporate? A District Associa- 
tion may incorporate under the laws of a state in which it 
is located as a corporation not for pecuniary profit. As the 
laws of the several states are not uniform, care will be nec- 
essary to see that all the provisions of the law are fully 
met, but the method is not ordinarily a difficult one. A 
good Christian lawyer should be consulted and his advice 
followed in arranging details. Some changes may be re- 
quired in the Association's constitution to conform to the 
law and make the organization thoroughly legal. Without 
attempting in this brief space to give the details that are 
required by the laws of the several states, the following 
will indicate the steps that usually are necessary: 

(i) The Association should vote to become incorporated 
according to the laws of the state within which it is located, 
and adopt all changes necessary in its constitution to con- 
form to the laws of the state. 

(2) A petition should be addressed to the Secretary of 
State, or Commissioner of Corporations, or such other offi- 
cer as the state designates, setting forth the following in- 
formation : 

(a) The corporate name of the Association. 

(b) The object of the Association as stated in its con- 
stitution. 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 309 

(c) The purpose for which it desires incorporation, as 
the promotion of the general interests of the churches and 
the ministers composing it, and of the interests of the Con- 
gregational denomination as a whole and the various organ- 
izations thereof. 

(d) The powers which it desires to assume, as the re- 
ceiving, holding, transfer of property in trust, or otherwise, 
for the use and benefit of the churches, or of any church, 
or of any organization representative of the churches. 

(e) The principal place of business of the corporation. 

(f) The list of officers first chosen under the proposed 
corporation and the residence of each, and the statement 
that these are citizens of the United States and of the state 
within which the Association is located. 

(g) The declaration that this organization is not for 
pecuniary profit of the incorporators, and that no trustee or 
director thereof receives pecuniary benefit by virtue of his 
relationship. 

(h) The corporate seal of the proposed corporation. 

(i) The certificate of a notary public with oath, if re- 
quired by law. 

(j) A copy of the constitution and by-laws of the pro- 
posed organization. 

This application being filed, the Secretary of State or 
Commissioner of Corporations will issue a certificate of 
incorporation, or in some states merely certify that the 
papers have been duly recorded and are on file in the state 
office. 

In some states it is necessary also that the articles ol 
incorporation be recorded in the recorder's office of the 
county where the principal business office of the Associa- 
tion is located. While the laws of the several states vary 
in detail, the process is ordinarily quite a simple one, and 
while a lawyer of experience should attend to it, he will 
not find the task a difficult one. 

May Associations License Candidates for the Ministry? 
Associations of churches may and should license candidates 



310 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

for the ministry. The Associations of ministers in New- 
England which continue this practice should do so as repre- 
senting the Association of churches and ministers, and their 
action should become valid only when reported to and 
approved by the District Association of the churches and 
ministers. 

May Associations Ordain? An Association of churches 
and ministers may ordain ministers of the gospel, and in 
many states they are performing this function. 

A resolution approving ordination by Association was 
submitted to the Committee on Polity at the National 
Council in Des Moines in 1904. The resolution received 
the formal approval of the committee, but was not reported 
to the council because it was deemed likely to provoke wide 
difference of opinion. Three years later at Cleveland the 
Council unanimously adopted a report approving the reso- 
lution that church recognition be given to the place of the 
Association of churches as a conciliary body, and author- 
izing Associations to ordain ministers. A custom, there- 
fore, which already was in operation in some states, has 
now become quite general and is of undoubted standing 
among us. 

Local Church Does Not Ordain. We should also cease to claim 
for the local church the exclusive right to ordain. That belongs 
with the pastoral, not with the kingdom theory of the ministry. 
The right of every church to invite any man to officiate as its 
pastor is not to be denied, nor its right to call a council to ordain 
a candidate. The Congregational churches may, indeed, prefer to 
retain this method of getting at the ordination of new men. But 
let us discharge our minds of the fiction that the meaning of this 
method is that ordination is the prerogative of a single church, a 
sacred part of its wonderful autonomy, while the co-operation of 
other churches in ordination is social courtesy and a good display 
of church fraternity. It is time to hold and practice the larger idea 
that the Congregational church — Congregational churches, if the 
phrase is preferred — provides itself, or themselves, with a ministry. 
The ordination of a candidate is the act of the church at large, 
performed by the churches of a vicinage acting co-ordinately and 
representing not a single church but the denomination. — Nash: 
Cong. Administration, pp. 66-67. 

Ordination by Association. Ordination should be by that body, 
namely, the local Association of churches, to which we safely en- 
trust the standing of ministers; and the Association should be 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 311 

ready to meet for ordination at the call of its own officers, upon 
the request either of a local church or of the candidate himself. 
And even if ordination by a council of churches is still preferred, 
it should be as competent and orderly for an Association of 
churches as for a single church to call that council. The provision, 
be it repeated, of an unfailing line of men discharging the min- 
isterial function in the Kingdom and the church is the duty and 
prerogative of the church, or of the churches corporately, not 
singly. — Nash: Cong. Administration, p. 67. 

The Best Ordaining Body. It is evident at a glance that ordi- 
nation by an Association of churches is good Congregational or- 
dination. No man ordained by such a body would have his min- 
isterial standing questioned anywhere in the land. The Associa- 
tion is a better body than the council for this service, inasmuch 
as it includes all the churches of the vicinage and has permanent 
life and records. Having more time and repeated sessions for 
its business, with standing officers and committees, it is less likely 
than a council to perform a mistaken ordination, while it is always 
at hand to correct such an error. — Nash: Cong. Administration, 
pp. 91-92. 

May an Association Accept or Reject Members? Every 
deliberative body has a right to judge of the qualifications 
of its own members. A council convened within the bounds 
of an Association cannot require the Association to accept 
a minister whom it ordains. Associations have full author- 
ity to inquire concerning the composition and findings of 
councils within their bounds, and to refuse to receive as 
members any ministers who have been ordained by councils 
not fairly representative of the whole body of the Associa- 
tion. Associations may also refuse to receive by transfer 
from another Association any minister whom they believe 
to be unworthy or to have been hastily ordained. 

Can an Association Depose a Minister? An Association, 
having the right to ordain ministers and being entrusted by 
the churches with the standing of the ministers within its 
bounds, has also the right to terminate the ministerial 
standing of one of its own members for cause, and may 
withhold or withdraw fellowship from a minister for im- 
morality, or unfaithfulness to his vows of ordination, pro- 
vided that every minister shall have the right to demand a 
fair trial, either before the Association or by a council to 
be chosen by the accused and the Association of which he 



312 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

is a member. No minister from whom fellowship has been 
withdrawn by an Association or a similar organization or 
by any ecclesiastical body in fellowship, should be consid- 
ered a Congregational minister by the Association, but 
should be regarded as deposed by the authority of the 
churches. 

An Association may withdraw fellowship from a church 
that walks disorderly. 

For many years the author of this work has asserted 
the right of an Association either to ordain or depose. 
Until recently he has supposed that he stood alone among 
authorities on Congregational usage in this assertion. This 
was in no way surprising, as both Dexter and Ross finished 
their work before the changes wrought in our polity were 
recognized by the National Councils of 1904 and 1907. 
This principle the author discussed with Dr. George M. 
Boynton when he was preparing "The Congregational 
Way," but Dr. Boynton followed closely after Dexter in 
this particular. The author knew that Dr. Ross held posi- 
tions regarding the development of Congregationalism 
which logically involved all that this present work asserts 
with reference to this right of Associations, and that the 
National Council had committed itself to, and the custom 
of the denomination had indubitably accepted, the newer 
and more efficient order of things. But as this present 
work was undergoing revision the author was surprised to 
find the entire system of associational ordination and depo- 
sition wrought out by Dr. Ross in prophecy, as follows: 

May not councils give place to Associations of churches in 
ordaining and deposing ministers? 

(1) There is nothing in the nature of the case to prevent this 
change. The churches in any locality may, in the exercise of their 
inalienable right, extend fellowship to a man in ordination or with- 
hold it from him in deposition through an Association that meets 
statedly, as well as through a council that meets occasionally. The 
same churches do it in either case, and a council has no greater 
warrant than an Association, if as good. 

(2) There are reasons why an Association can ordain and de- 
pose better than a council of churches. These reasons are: (a) The 
Association embraces the churches in any locality, while the coun- 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 313 

cil may include only a part of them, or go entirely beyond their 
number. Thus the inalienable right of the churches in any locality 
to extend or withhold fellowship finds a far safer expression in 
Associations than in councils. Indeed, councils sometimes not 
only ignore this right, but contemn and defy it. (b) If an Associa- 
tion make a mistake in ordination or deposition, it can correct it, 
and both will be recorded in the same journal for preservation and 
inspection — the same body correcting its own mistake. But if a 
council, doing the same things, commit a blunder, it cannot after 
adjournment correct it. Another council must be called to do that. 
So it is one council against another council. Besides, the results 
of both councils, being nowhere recorded, unless by the churches 
calling them, are soon lost altogether, or no one knows where to 
find them. True, in some states efforts are made to preserve them, 
but probably in no state are the collections complete, while in 
many states no effort is made to preserve them, (c) The inde- 
pendence of the churches is not interfered with by either method. 
Each church can have whom it pleases as pastor. If the Associa- 
tion will not ordain whom the church wants, the church is in the 
same condition precisely as if the same churches in council had 
refused to ordain him. If the church, to ordain a man under such 
circumstances, go beyond the boundary of the Association for a 
council, or pick a council from within the Association, it defies the 
inalienable right of those churches in the locality, which cannot be 
held to be a gain for councils. Instead, it is better for the church 
to fall back upon its own inalienable right to elect and inaugurate 
its own officers by ordination, remembering that it may itself be 
cut off in consequence from the Association and all church fellow- 
ship for violation of its covenant with the churches in connection, 
(d) In case of ordination by the Association of churches, expulsion 
after trial by a similar body would be deposition from the min- 
istry. It would be the withdrawal of recognition by the churches 
of the man's call and function as a minister, from which action 
appeal may be taken to a mutual council, (e) The expense in time 
and money of councils of ordination and deposition, when the 
churches have stated meetings in associations, becomes a reason 
why the association should do the work, if consistent with princi- 
ple. This reason is apparent in the western states and territories. 
— Ross: Church-Kingdom, pp. 288-289. 

If, however, this principle is recognized, as it is now 
and henceforth must be recognized, the power of deposition 
by Association is in nowise limited, as might appear to be 
implied under (d) above, to ministers who have been 
ordained by Associations. When once the principle is con- 
ceded that an Association can ordain, any minister, no 
matter how ordained, may be deposed by the Association 
of which he is a member. 

Is Deposition by Act of Association Good Congrega- 
tionalism? The rule here laid down that a Congregational 



314 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

minister may be deposed from the ministry by act of the 
Association of which he is a member is the logical and inev- 
itable corollary from the now recognized right of Associa- 
tions to ordain. That it meets a distinct and crying need 
in Congregationalism may be attested by the experience of 
any minister who has gone through with the painful process 
of withdrawing fellowship under the old plan. That plan 
as described by Dexter was the following: 

(1) In the possible case of gross heresy or evil life in its pastor, 
a Congregational church should proceed to discipline him for the 
same as if he were only a private member, until it has reached the 
stage of full conviction of guilt. (2) Then — in virtue of the in- 
volved fellowship of the churches — instead of proceeding to pass 
the final vote and pronounce sentence, it should call a council to 
advise in the sad case. (3) Should the pastor be so excessively un- 
wise as to decline to unite with them for this purpose, they may 
call one ex-parte. (4) This council should go over the case, and 
if satisfied of guilt, and the pastor remain impenitent, or if, even 
though he be penitent, the aggravated circumstances of the case 
seem to require it, it should advise the church to depose the of- 
fender from his ministry, and perhaps excommunicate him from 
its fellowship. (5) It will then be orderly for the church to ac- 
cept, and follow, this advice of council. 

On the Congregational theory, as has before been said, every 
pastor ought to be first a member of his own church. I see no 
way of efficiently adjusting our system in this respect to that 
"acting pastor" and "stated supply" phase which has so largely 
come over our ministry, without taking the ground that when- 
ever a minister assumes the position of quasi pastor of a church, 
he, in so doing and by virtue of that fact, so far joins that church 
as of his own consent to render himself amenable to its discipline 
as if he were a member and pastor in full. And I recommend that 
every church insert some clause to this effect among its stand- 
ing rules. — Dexter: Handbook, pp. 114-115. 

However logical the foregoing method may have seemed 
in theory, it seldom, if ever, worked well in practice. 
Churches simply would not go through this five-fold agony. 
Moreover, it never was logical to throw the whole burden 
of such a long drawn-out and harrowing process upon a 
single church already distracted and perhaps divided over 
the discovery of the unworthiness of its minister. 

Dr. George M. Boynton set forth distinctly the processes 
of withdrawal of fellowship as they appeared to him. 

As to the conditions of this standing and its certification or loss, 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 315 

the matter may perhaps be made most clear by separating the ele- 
ments in which good standing consists: 

(1) As an individual, the minister is a member of a local church 
like other men, and is responsible to it for his consistent living. 
So far as this is concerned he may lose his standing as a church 
member by the action of the church of which he is a member. It 
is an ancient usage, and advisable in most cases, that, in dealing 
with a ministerial member, a church should call in the advice of 
the neighboring churches in a mutual council, to aid it in its con- 
clusion. If the council should advise the removal of the minister 
from his membership in the church, it could also advise the 
churches no longer to regard him as a minister. 

(2) As a member of a profession, he has been received into a 
ministerial Association, which may terminate his membership by 
vote. The vote should state the reason for the action, on which 
the effect of the action would depend. If simply for long con- 
tinued absence, it would cast no reflection on his moral character, 
though it might on his conception of the requirements of good fel- 
lowship. The effect of the action of a ministerial Association 
would, however, only affect his professional standing, though it 
might be conclusive of his ministry, if no further appeal were 
taken by him. 

(3) His standing as a minister of the Congregational denomina- 
tion would be directly affected by the action of an ecclesiastical 
body, as the local conference or state Association of which he is 
a member. This, especially if communicated to other such bodies 
in the land, would directly discredit him; and unless he should 
appeal to an ecclesiastical council, it would terminate his ministe- 
rial career and remove him from the ministry of the denomination. 

(4) The ultimate appeal in all cases is to an ecclesiastical coun- 
cil, which alone can finally take away from a Congregational min- 
ister the standing which was conferred on him by a similar body. 

It may be seen that at any stage of this proceeding, the action 
of a church, ministerial Association, ecclesiastical conference or 
council, will be final, if concurred in, or not resisted, by the per- 
son affected thereby. It is seldom that the ultimate appeal is de- 
sired or necessary. 

The expression "deposed from the ministry," though occasion- 
ally used, does not seem to be in accord with Congregational prin- 
ciples. On the belief that the Lord has called a man to the min- 
istry, a Congregational council recognizes that call, and extends 
its fellowship to its ministry. All that it can properly do in the 
extremest case is to withdraw the recognition and fellowship which 
it has extended. — Boynton: Congregational Way, pp. 89-90. 

It will be noted in the foregoing that it is really expected 
that a guilty minister will not insist upon his right to call 
a council, but will be satisfied to drop the matter at some 
earlier stage. Dr. Boynton was in error in saying that the 
term "deposed from the ministry" is not in accord with Con- 
gregational principles. It was formerly used at the termina- 



316 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

tion of every pastorate. That use rightly became obsolete, 
but still is an entirely proper term. 

Both the foregoing authorities are logical if it be con- 
ceded that an Association has no authority to ordain. But 
Associations have authority to ordain, and therefore have a 
right to depose. 

Dr. Dexter, in a figure borrowed from the application 
of isolation to cases of infectious disease, showed how com- 
pletely a minister who has proved unworthy may be isolated 
by processes beginning and terminating in the local church : 

Isolation in Infectious Disease. The very isolation and inde- 
pendence which belong to Congregationalism favor this freeness 
from error. The first thing to be done in a crowded community 
when a case of zymotic disease occurs, is to segregate the patient, 
and so cut off all possibility, and prevent all danger, of diffusing 
the infection. Congregational churches can "withdraw themselves" 
from erring sister churches, or anti-scriptural and unorthodox 
preachers, and so the spread of contagion will be checked, if not 
arrested. If a church-member fall into false doctrine or vicious 
behavior, the others deal with him and cast him out. If a pastor 
become unsound in doctrine or evil in life, his church casts him 
out, and in so doing warns other churches against him. Or, if his 
whole church should have been corrupted and side with him, its 
neighbor churches may easily cut the cord of fellowship by which 
it is holden to them and let the danger drift out of their neigh- 
borhood. Had the churches of Massachusetts at the beginning 
of the present century been bound together into any Presbyterian 
or other hierarchic unity, instead of sloughing off the Unitarian 
error, and coming forth from the trial exalted to a higher and 
nobler and more effective Orthodoxy, there can hardly be a doubt 
that the struggle would have been infinitely more severe, ending, 
most likely, in disastrous failure. In England Presbyterianism, 
with its much vaunted security against doctrinal decay, became 
Unitarian; while the "loosely organized" Congregational churches 
of that land remain to this day essentially sound in the ancient 
faith once delivered to the saints. — Handbook, p. 133. 

This figure had some force in the day when Congrega- 
tionalism was local, and a minister cut off from fellowship 
in his own church was effectually cut off from other 
churches, none of them far enough away to be in ignorance 
of what had taken place. But no such system is adequate 
in a system as large as Congregationalism has grown to 
be. An unworthy minister, cut off from membership in a 
church in Maine, can be in Arizona before the following 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 317 

Sunday, and having scattered disease there for a year or 
two need not lose a single Sunday in transporting himself 
to Minnesota, where, having wrecked a church, he may 
move on to Florida. No action by local churches in any 
of these distant communities does or can prevent his 
carrying the germs of his false doctrine or immorality from 
state to state. The older method, so stoutly defended by 
the earlier authorities, has proved ineffective, and must be 
relegated, as virtually it has been relegated, to a place 
among the things that served in the day of short distances 
and provincial distribution of churches, but which have no 
proper place in continental Congregationalism. 

Withdrawing Fellowship. Our present method of church 
Associations, with redress in mutual councils, gives unity without 
loss of liberty. These Associations include all our churches. If 
a church violate its covenant which it entered into on joining the 
Association, it may be expelled for the same, or fellowship may 
be withdrawn from it. But there is here, as in the case of min- 
isterial standing in Associations, no exercise of authority over the 
church; for all the Association does is to clear itself in self-pro- 
tection of an unworthy member. The church may manage all its 
own affairs, even to having whom it will as pastor; but it may not 
presume to manage the affairs of other churches and force itself 
upon their fellowship in Association; for that would be the exercise 
of authority by one church over other churches. To deny an As- 
sociation of churches this common right of self-protection, under 
the cry of centralization, is the absurdity of license; is to make 
one wayward church supreme in power; it is to give the said 
church the right and power to compel others to fellowship it. 
Fellowship is reciprocal, between equals, and it is no centralization 
to exclude the unworthy from fellowship.— Ross: Church-Kingdom, 
p. 369. 

Is the Increase of Power on the Part of the Association 
Justifiable? It is evident that this chapter contemplates a 
considerable increase of responsibility on the part of Asso- 
ciations over that of the Associations in former days. It is 
important that any change so widespread and involving so 
many apparent departures from ancient custom should be 
carefully safeguarded. If Associations should come to per- 
form the solemn responsibility of ordination, and other 



318 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

grave functions, as mere details of Association business, 
the result might easily become deplorable. It is of the 
utmost importance that where Associations take over en- 
larged functions there be assurance that the churches are 
ready for the change, and that the Associations themselves 
are prepared to assume the responsibilities and attend to 
them in an orderly and efficient manner. 

These dangers being safeguarded, there can be little 
doubt of the desirability of the evolution now so manifest 
in our ecclesiastical life. Our churches have always be- 
lieved in fellowship, but the organic forms through which 
that fellowship has been expressed have been exceedingly 
variable and may still be varied at the discretion of the 
churches as guided by the Spirit of God. The local church 
is still supreme within its own parish, but the churches are 
finding and will find more permanent and stable forms of 
fellowship than the vicinage council can provide for the 
needs of the churches in their organic unity. 

The Vital Unit. Associations, conferences, councils, societies, 
National Council, all are organizations of local churches, not of 
individual Christians, not of independent and authoritative officials. 
The churches unite of their own will into all these social forms, 
giving to them their leadership, their standing warrant, their life 
itself. — Nash: Cong. Administration, p. 17. 

Even Dr. George M. Boynton recognized not merely 
the inevitable trend of Congregationalism toward the more 
stable form of fellowship, but the inherent advantages of 
a permanent over a temporary body in matters of minis- 
terial standing. He said: 

The conference then, if so authorized by the churches compos- 
ing it, could properly act in the licensure of candidates and in place 
of a council in the ordination and installation of ministers, and 
could be the custodian of ministerial standing and do much which 
a council has been accustomed to do. The spread of Congrega- 
tionalism over a continent makes the council, which has no per- 
manent existence or records, more difficult, and possibly less suc- 
cessful than formerly, and also makes the local body, which has 
continuance, of more importance in the denominational doings. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, pp. 122-123. 

Liberties of Churches Secure. If we bear in mind, that legisla- 
tion and judicature have no place in the church, in general bodies 



THE DISTRICT ASSOCIATION 319 

or anywhere else, the liberties of the churches are entirely safe. — 
Heermance: Democracy in the Church, pp. 102-103. 

Standing of Churches and Ministers, No Congregational 
church is independent. It can become so by withdrawing from its 
affiliations with the other churches, but in that case it ceases to be 
a part of the Congregational body. — Dr. Quint: In Dunning's Con- 
gregationalists in America, p. 492. 

What Are the Rules of Business of the District Associa- 
tion? Each District Association makes its own rules of 
business, but is governed in general by the precedents and 
established uses of the Congregational denomination. 

Specific directions for the government of District Associations 
are given in the author's Congregational Manual, pp. 160-164, and 
in its Rules of Order, pp. 14-28. 

What May an Advisory Committee Do? An important 
feature of the new form of organization of Associations is 
the standing committee, known either as the executive or 
advisory committee. An outline of the duties of this com- 
mittee, which of course may be varied according to the 
will of the Association, is herewith given as the same is 
practiced in the Chicago Association. 

The advisory committee is a large and representative 
body, whose members are elected for a period of three 
years, the term of one-third expiring each year. It is an 
incorporated body having the power of a board of trustees 
under the laws of the State of Illinois and can hold property 
for the Association, or in trust for any church or other 
object which the Association may designate. It is the com- 
mittee on credentials and the committee on discipline and 
also the committee on licensure. It meets monthly for the 
examination of candidates for licensure, to receive applica- 
tions for membership in the Association, and for such busi- 
ness as may come before it. It has no authority to grant 
certificates of licensure, serving only as a committee of 
examination and conference, having general oversight of 
licentiates. It does not grant admission to or dismission 
from the Association, but when a member applies to the 
Association not having received his credentials and has 



3 20 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

been approved subject to the receipt of proper papers, the 
advisory committee is authorized to approve the credentials 
when they come, thus completing a pending membership, 
and sometimes preventing the name of a minister in good 
standing from being omitted for a year from the national 
Year Book. The advisory committee, or a major portion 
thereof, is expected to be invited to councils of ordination 
held within the bounds of the Association, unless such 
council includes the whole membership of the Association. 
In addition to the foregoing, the advisory committee is 
authorized to represent the Association on invitation of any 
church or minister in need of advice. It has been called 
into council to consider the wisdom of organizing, dividing, 
combining, and disbanding churches; in matters of dispute 
between pastor and church ; in matters relating to the stand- 
ing and character of ministers. It has been able to handle 
many difficult matters with some degree of tact and wis- 
dom, its functions being in general to do those things which 
the Association needs to have done between its own regular 
meetings and which are not delegated by the Association 
to some special body. Its functions fall into two classes: 
First, those which belong to it as the executive body of an 
Illinois corporation, and secondly, those which are delegated 
to it by special vote of the Association. Not every Associa- 
tion has need of legal incorporation, but almost every Asso- 
ciation has need of some such body to represent the Asso- 
ciation between its own stated meetings and always subject 
to the Association. 



XVIII. THE STATE CONFERENCE 

What Is a State Conference? A State Conference is a 
body composed of the churches and ministers of a large 
district, commonly one of the states or territories in the 
Union. 

This definition does not overlook the possibility of the 
union of two or more states, as Kentucky and Tennessee, 
in one Conference, or the division of one larger state, as 
California, into two or more State Conferences, each pos- 
sessing in the territory which it covers all the characteristics 
and prerogatives of a State Conference. 

Is the Conference Composed of Delegates from Associa- 
tions? The State Conference is not composed of delegates 
from the District Associations. It is made up (i) of the 
ministers in good standing belonging to the Associations 
within its bounds, and (2) of the churches represented 
directly by their own delegates. Territorially it equals, or 
should equal, the sum of the Associations within it, but the 
composition of its membership is formed directly by the 
churches and the ministers. 

Dr. Dexter assumed that "the several District Confer- 
ences" or Associations, would be "united together in, and 
send delegates to, State Conferences, which meet once a 
year" (Handbook, p. 125). But as uniformly constituted, 
our State Conferences are made up, not of delegates from 
the district bodies, but of delegates from all the churches 
of the state, and ministers from the same state or territorial 
division. 

How Many Delegates May a Church Elect to a Con- 
ference? The State Conference determines by its own vote 
the number of delegates which each church may elect. 
Ordinarily each church is represented by its pastor and one 
lay delegate, but a minister, having membership in the body 
by right of his ministerial standing, need not always be 
regarded as representing his church. In some states it has 



322 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

been held that only the lay delegate should be regarded as 
representing the church. This, however, is the exception, 
and does not deserve to become the rule. A pastor, even 
though he has standing in the body as a minister, should 
be enrolled as representing his church. The church deserves 
the dignity of representation both clerical and lay, and the 
pastor, even though he have interests in the body apart from 
those that are distinctly pastoral, should be there primarily 
as a representative of his church. The Conference may in- 
crease the number of its lay delegates, admitting two or 
more from each church. 

Does Ministerial Standing Repose in the State Confer- 
ence? Ministerial standing is deposited in the District 
Association, and not in the State Conference. The excep- 
tions to this rule have been few, and practically have been 
confined to states with so few Congregational churches that 
the District Association and the State Conference are one 
body. In such cases there is no valid objection to the 
State Conference holding ministerial standing, but the gen- 
eral rule is wise and well-established that the body of 
churches and ministers nearest to the local church should 
retain ministerial standing. But no minister can be a mem- 
ber of a State Conference except he have ministerial stand- 
ing in a District Association, in states where the two bodies 
exist. 

Higher Memberships Rest on Good Standing. Conceivably it 
may still be asked why the state conference should, in constituting 
its membership, refer at all to the local associations. The answer 
is, Because our Congregational practise leaves in the associations 
the determination of the good standing which consists in member- 
ship acquired and retained. The state conference, the national 
societies, and the National Council then accept the matter of 
membership as settled and adjust their practise thereto. The 
question then becomes one as to representation in these higher 
bodies. And the two classes to be represented are: (1) churches 
and (2) ministers, the whole number of the latter as an ordained 
ministry, not merely the major fraction of them as pastors. Our 
organific direction, as considered in the first lecture, is from below 
upward. The single church is first. The churches organize the 
local association, and make it the corner-stone of our fellowship 
structure. The churches carry up to the state conference nothing 
which the smaller bodies can bear just as well. And the churches 



THE STATE CONFERENCE 323 

carry on to the national bodies only the still wider interests com- 
mon to the states. — Nash: Congregational Administration, pp. 108, 
109. 

May a Conference Invite Corresponding Members? A 

Conference may invite ministers or laymen of other bodies, 
who are present, to sit as corresponding members, having 
the right to the floor without vote. This courtesy is pecu- 
liarly appropriate where such visiting members are present 
in an official capacity. 

May a Conference Entertain an Appeal from an Asso- 
ciation? A State Conference may not entertain an appeal 
from a District Association. It is not the intention in Con- 
gregational usage to provide the fatally convenient machin- 
ery of a series of ascending courts. A State Conference 
might advise an Association, or mediate between two Asso- 
ciations, but precedents for such action, if they exist at all, 
are rare. 

May Superior Bodies Receive Overtures? A District 
Association may present overtures or memorials to a State 
Conference, and a District Association or State Conference 
may present memorials to the National Council in any 
matter touching the welfare of the churches ; and any such 
communication is entitled to receive and invariably does 
receive careful consideration. 

May an Appeal Be Taken from a Conference to the 
National Council? No appeal can be taken from a State 
Conference to the National Council. A State Conference, 
however, may ask advice of the National Council, and the 
Council is competent to give its best judgment with as 
much force as there is force in the reason of it. The 
National Council would be justified, however, in declining 
to give advice on a matter of less than national interest. 

By What Rules Are Conferences Governed? Confer- 
ences are governed first of all by their own rules of order 
as set forth in their constitution and by-laws, and secondly, 
by the general principles of Congregational usage. 

Specific directions for the government of State Conference? 



324 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

are given in the author's Congregational Manual, pp. 160-164, and 
in its Rules of Order, pp. 14-28. 

May a State Conference Incorporate? State Confer- 
ences are quite generally identical in membership with the 
State Home Missionary Society, and may exercise through 
this or other forms of organization authority over the mis- 
sionary societies maintained by the churches of the Asso- 
ciation. The National Council in 1907 recommended that 
State Conferences become legally incorporated and em- 
powered to hold property and conduct the operations of the 
churches in their missionary and philanthropic work : 

That the state organizations become legally incorporated 
bodies; and that under a general superintendent and such boards 
as they may create, and acting in co-operation with committees of 
local Associations and churches, they provide for and direct the 
extension of church work, the planting of churches, the mutual 
oversight and care of all self-sustaining as well as missionary 
churches, and other missionary and church activities to the end 
that closer union may insure greater efficiency without curtailing 
local independence. 

In harmony with the foregoing recommendation, State 
Conferences are remodeling their constitutions and provid- 
ing for more centralized power to be exercised by the 
churches in their representative capacity. 

How May State Bodies Consolidate? Where a Home 
Missionary Society exists and it is desired that its work be 
taken over and performed by the State Conference, the fol- 
lowing steps are necessary: 

(1) The State Conference should change its constitu- 
tion so as to provide for incorporation, and incorporation 
should be obtained in the manner directed for the incor- 
poration of District Associations. 

(2) The State Home Missionary Society should change 
its constitution so as to provide for the taking over of its 
work by the State Conference. 

(3) The two constitutions should be so adjusted that 
the Board of Directors shall be the same in number in both 
bodies, and it should be planned that the same persons be 
elected separately in each body. 



THE STATE CONFERENCE 325 

(4) The State Home Missionary Society should not be 
permitted to pass out of existence. It is entirely possible 
that its name is contained in legacies that might be lost if 
the corporate existence of the Home Missionary Society 
were discontinued. 

(5) When the State Conference is fully incorporated 
and the two constitutions have been amended, a meeting 
of the two bodies should be called for the same time and 
place. The State Home Missionary Society should then by 
formal vote transfer all its work and vested interests to the 
State Conference, and the State Conference should by 
formal vote accept the work and funds and obligations of 
the State Home Missionary Society. 

(6) Each year thereafter the State Conference should 
elect by ballot the trustees or directors, and a separate 
ballot should elect the same persons to serve as directors 
or trustees for the same period of the Home Missionary 
Society. 

(7) It is not necessary that the moderator of the con- 
ference be also president of the Home Missionary Society, 
or that the scribes of the two bodies be the same. In some 
respects it is better that these two sets of officers be differ- 
ent, in order that there may be a plain legal distinction be- 
tween the two bodies. The annual business, however, can 
be very briefly done. Where all the interests are in har- 
mony, five to ten minutes will suffice for the separate meet- 
ing of the Home Missionary Society as such, but such a 
meeting should be held, and the record of it should be 
unmistakable, and each year a resolution should be recorded 
on the books of the State Home Missionary Society that 
the work of the society continue in the care of the State 
Conference, and that all gifts, bequests or donations to the 
State Home Missionary Society be collected by, and used 
for the benefit of, the work of the State Conference. 

It is hoped that these directions will not seem compli- 
cated or unnecessary. As a matter of fact, they are very 
simple, but the form of the several motions should be care- 



326 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAG E 

fully drawn, and when so drawn and adopted, may be re- 
newed year by year without change. 

Although it is strongly advised that the annual meeting 
be held as herein provided, the fundamental resolution and 
constitutional changes should be permanent in character, 
and such that no bequest or donation would be likely to be 
lost through the accidental omission of a formal meeting. 

Should Both Organizations Be Kept in Existence? The 
State Home Missionary Society need never go legally out 
of existence. It should not discontinue its annual meetings 
until it is confident it has collected the last legacy that 
would be likely to have been devised to it. When the time 
comes, as it may come in the course of twenty or fifty 
years, when it is deemed unnecessary to continue the form 
of an annual meeting, a carefully drawn resolution should 
be recorded providing that thereafter the annual meeting 
of this society be the annual meeting of the State Confer- 
ence, and that the officers of the State Conference be also 
the officers of the Home Missionary Society, and that all 
members of the State Conference are members of the Home 
Missionary Society and that the State Conference have full 
right and authority in its own name to do all things that 
the State Home Missionary Society is authorized to do. 

If in any state the advice here given is deemed unneces- 
sarily technical and formal, it should be disregarded, if at 
all, only on the advice of competent legal counsel. 

How May Both Bodies Continue and Work Together? 
In states where it is desirable to keep in full existence both 
the Home Missionary Society and the State Conference, 
yet to bring their work into close relations, the two bodies 
may be made identical in membership though not neces- 
sarily identical in their officers or governing boards. 

They may hold their annual meetings at the same time 
and place, room being provided in the program of the State 
Conference for the annual meeting and public presentation 
of the Home Missionary Society. 



XIX. THE ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL 

May an Association Act as a Council? An important 
development in the life of the Congregational churches in 
recent years is that whereby Associations have come to 
perform much of the work formerly done by councils. 

This does not mean that the council is wholly super- 
seded. It still exists as a time-honored and in some cases 
an efficient instrument for the expression of Congregational 
fellowship; but the churches have larger common interests 
to guard than formerly, and have come quite generally to 
feel that some more permanent and more certainly repre- 
sentative body than a council must be available both as an 
organ for fellowship and for the doing of denominational 
work. To this end our Associations are quite generally 
changing their constitutions so as to provide for the per- 
formance of such conciliary functions as the churches may 
require of them. This change, while not free from danger 
of abuse, has been approved by the National Council, and 
in general appears to be working to the satisfaction of the 
churches. 

How May a Church Invite an Association to Act in a 
Conciliary Capacity? A church desiring the Association 
to which it belongs to act in ordination, dismission, or other 
business sometimes performed by councils, may issue a call 
in the form of a regular letter missive addressed to each of 
the churches in the Association. The body convening, how- 
ever, in response to such a call, will be strictly a council 
and subject to all the rules governing a council. 

Another course is permissible. The representatives of 
the church may confer with the advisory committee of the 
Association concerning the business to be presented, and 
determine whether it is better that it be done at a regular 
or special meeting of the Association, and the business for 
which the Association is to act in a conciliary capacity 
may thus be arranged for as a part of the regular program 
or through a call for a special meeting of the Association. 



328 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

When the Association acts in a conciliary capacity at 
a special session, the time of meeting should be arranged 
in conference with the advisory committee, and the registrar 
should send out due notice of the proposed meeting. 
Churches should elect delegates as for a regular meeting. 
If the Association elects its moderator to serve until his 
successor is appointed, the special meeting will be called to 
order by the moderator; if otherwise, the moderator will 
be elected according to the rules. The quorum will be the 
regular quorum of the Association. A majority of the 
churches invited is not necessary if the constitution of the 
Association permits a smaller quorum. The Association, 
being organized, proceeds to do its business in essentially 
the same manner as a council, and the ordinary rules both 
for Associations and councils apply. 

For these rules reference may be made to the writer's Congre- 
gational Manual. 

When an Association is called upon to act in a conciliary 
capacity at its regular meeting, great care should be taken 
to prevent the ordinary business of the Association from 
so crowding the special business as to reduce it to a mere 
perfunctory formality. If the business be the examination 
of a candidate for ordination, sufficient time should be re- 
served for the examination, and the public exercise of ordi- 
nation should be performed with solemn dignity. If the 
system of ordination by Association falls into contempt, the 
reason is likely to be through failure at this point. 

If a candidate presents himself for ordination and 
through any confusion in arrangements no adequate pro- 
vision can be made for his examination, the examination 
should either be delegated to a large and representative 
committee, meeting in a separate room, or to an appro- 
priate standing committee of the Association, and a public 
report made upon it. Or the Association should adjourn 
to a special session for this particular purpose, permitting 
its program of addresses to proceed for the edification of 
the company assembled, while the Association gives itself 



THE ASSOCIATION ACTING AS COUNCIL 329 

to the solemn responsibility of examining the candidates. 
If the impression should become general that examinations 
when performed by the Association are likely to be so short- 
ened by the program or the pressure of business as to make 
such examinations less thorough than when performed by 
councils, the result would be most unhappy. Or, if public 
programs were so arranged that the public service of ordi- 
nation were slighted or were made a mere side issue, the 
custom of ordination by Associations were more honored 
in the breach than in the observance. The new method is 
theoretically justifiable, and possesses some marked advan- 
tages, but it must be shown to be advantageous in practice. 
It is manifestly desirable that ordination be undertaken at 
the request of the church of which the candidate is a mem- 
ber or the pastor elect. 

Does a Minister Ordained by an Association Become a 
Member of the Ordaining Body? Unless the Association 
provides in its rules that a minister ordained within its 
bounds either by council or Association becomes a member, 
a separate vote is required. But an Association may by 
rule provide that while it will review the proceedings of 
all councils of ordination, it will receive ipso facto as mem- 
bers all ministers ordained within its bounds by the Asso- 
ciation itself, without further examination or formality. 

May an Association Dismiss an Installed Pastor? If an 
Association is called to act in a conciliary capacity in the 
dismission of a pastor, the procedure is essentially the same 
as in a dismissing council; or if the service be performed 
at a regularly called meeting of the Association, the pro- 
ceedings may include not only the formal termination of 
his pastorate, but also the severing of his relation with the 
Association and the granting him of a credential in due 
form. 

For the rules relating to the conduct of Associations acting as 
councils reference is made to the author's Congregational Manual. 

Do these New Functions Make the Congregational 



330 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Association a Consociation? The churches of Connecticut 
developed a system of Consociations in which the Conso- 
ciation was essentially a standing council. The newer sys- 
tem of more compactly organized Associations possesses 
some features in common with the old-time Consociation, 
but the two are not entirely identical. The newer form of 
Association ought to be so administered as to possess the 
advantages of the Consociation without its disadvantages. 
Whether this result is attained will depend less upon the 
greater excellence of the machinery than the conscientious 
care by which it is operated. 



XX. ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 

Has a Church a Right to Discipline One of Its Own 
Members? Every church has a right to discipline its own 
members for violation of any of its rules or obligations. 
This discipline may take the form of private or public ad- 
monition, censure, suspense, or excommunication. 

Discipline. In dealing with an offender, great care is to be 
taken that we be neither over strict or rigorous, nor too indulgent 
or remiss: our proceeding herein ought to be with a spirit of 
meekness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted; and 
that the best of us have need of much forgiveness from the Lord. — 
Cambridge Platform, xiv, 4. 

Has a Church a Right to Discipline a Non-Member? A 

local church has authority only over its own members, but 
a church may bear its testimony against any form of evil 
or any person who is doing evil. A local church may pass 
a vote of censure upon a public official of the community 
for failure to perform his duties. It may bear its testimony 
against any current form of error. It may withdraw fellow- 
ship from a sister church or from a minister. Any such 
act, however, bearing upon persons not of its own member- 
ship should be performed with prudence and discretion. 
The occasion should be such as manifestly to call for such 
action, and the vote or resolution should be free from all 
abusive or libelous matter. 

Has a Church a Right to Discipline Its Minister? To 
this question historic Congregationalism gave a simple and 
unqualified answer, namely, that the minister is a member 
of the church and subject to its discipline like any other 
member. An answer somewhat less simple must now be 
given. 

(i) A local church has a right to discipline its minister 
as a member of the church for any act for which it could 
discipline another member. 

A local church has also a right to discipline its minister 



332 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

for any undisputed act of unfaithfulness in the performance 
of his pastoral duty toward that particular church. 

(2) But the right of a church to discipline its minister 
for failure in his duty as pastor belongs to the church only 
when the fact of such failure is undisputed. If the church 
charge the minister with unfaithfulness, and the minister 
denies his unfaithfulness, the church cannot be both prose- 
cutor and judge. The question of the minister's fidelity in 
his contractual relations must be adjudicated before an 
impartial body. 

(3) A church may discipline its minister for holding 
and teaching doctrines contrary to its own confession "of 
faith. But no charge against a minister on this score will 
lie if it can be shown that the church knew when he became 
its pastor that he did not accept its confession of faith, and 
that it called him notwithstanding this knowledge. 

(4) A church cannot discipline its minister for failure 
to accept any other creed than its own. If he holds and 
teaches the creed of the local church, but fails to hold and 
teach some other creed which the majority of the church 
believe to be orthodox, it cannot call him to account for his 
failure to conform to this extra interpretation of orthodoxy. 

(5) A local church cannot discipline its minister in any 
matter touching his ministerial standing. This is a new 
but entirely valid principle. It follows logically from the 
resolution of the National Council in 1886, concerning min- 
isterial standing, and the general acceptance by the churches 
since of the principle that ministerial standing resides in 
the District Association. Only within the special sphere of 
his relations to the local church of which he is a member 
and pastor can the local church bring a minister to trial 
before itself. If it believes him guilty of heresy as judged 
by the general standards of the denomination, or of conduct 
unbecoming a minister but not within the sphere of his 
particular relation to his own church, it must proceed 
against him through the Association of which he is a 
member. 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 333 

The action of the National Council in 191 5 on the Sus- 
pension and Deposition of Ministers completely answers 
many questions of this character. 

How Should a Church Trial Be Conducted? If a mem- 
ber of a local church has violated his covenant he should 
be dealt with according to the nature and gravity of the 
offense. Where the offense is private, it should be dealt 
with privately, and made public only as a last resort. If 
he has sinned against another member of the church, the 
member whom he has wronged should go to him personally 
and in a spirit of Christian affection. If he will not repent, 
he should be visited again; this time with two or three 
brethren of the church, preferably some of its officers. 
These should labor with him affectionately and earnestly. 
If he remains obdurate the matter may be brought before 
the church. 

If the fault be of a greater magnitude and of a public 
nature, any member may, and the officers of the church 
should, take reasonably prompt and effective action. He 
should first be visited and an effort made to secure his 
repentance, and if he will not repent he should be brought 
before the church on formal charges. 

Any member of the church who is cited for trial should 
be furnished with a copy of the charges in writing, and 
also with the names of his accusers, and a date should be 
set for the hearing of his case. If he fails to appear or to 
send any answer, the church may proceed against him in 
his absence. If a formal trial is to be held, some member 
of the church should be appointed to represent him. Where 
the offense is of a public nature and the person accused 
fails to appear or answer, the church will be justified in a 
vote to suspend him for thirty days, or some other definite 
period, at the end of which time notice having been given 
him and he still failing to appear, fellowship may be with- 
drawn from him. 

If the accused person appear and confess his fault, he 
should be forgiven, but he may be admonished or even sus- 



334 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

pended, notwithstanding his confession, until he shall have 
proved the sincerity of his repentance. Churches, however, 
almost invariably deem it wise, as well as Christian, to 
offer free forgiveness to a member who confesses his fault, 
unless there is reason to fear that the confession has been 
made from unworthy motives, or that the act of forgiveness 
might appear to condone the wrong and possibly influence 
action in the civil courts or elsewhere. 

Where a member confesses his fault, the church may 
still at its discretion hear the evidence, if it deem it wise 
to do so. In some cases the hearing of the evidence will 
make it apparent that the offender has made haste to con- 
fess only a portion of his wrong-doing. In others, it will 
appear that in his remorse he has censured himself beyond 
what is just. The right to hear such evidence, however, is 
rarely the custom, the fact of repentance, when in apparent 
good faith, being commonly a ground of forgiveness. The 
purpose of church discipline is not punishment but restora- 
tion. 

Duty of the Church to Guilty Member. Should the accused per- 
son be found guilty of the fault laid to his charge, it becomes the 
duty of the church solemnly to admonish him of his sin. and the 
absolute necessity of atoning for it, by making proper reparation, 
with the spirit of the gospel. — Dwight: Sermon, clxii. 

Is Professional Counsel Permitted in a Church Trial? 

Where a formal church trial becomes necessary, a member 
should be appointed to present the charges and one may be 
appointed to defend the accused. The church may, or may 
not, admit outside counsel. It has a right to insist that the 
accused choose his counsel from the membership of the 
church. If, however, he allege that no member of the 
church is competent or willing to defend him, he may be 
permitted to appear with other counsel. He must not, how- 
ever, abuse this liberty by the introduction of court techni- 
calities into the conduct of church cases. 

Should a Church Trial Be Conducted as in a Court of 
Law? Church trials, when unhappily they must be held, 
should be conducted with simplicity, fairness, and quiet dig- 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 335 

nity, with due regard for reasonable forms of law and evi- 
dence, but without attempt to imitate the technicalities of 
the civil courts. 

Must the Whole Church Try an Offender? Church 
trials may be conducted by the entire church, or by a com- 
mission chosen by the church, or by a board of arbitration 
selected by the church and the accused. It is manifestly 
unwise that every church trial should be conducted before 
the whole congregation. The church membership includes 
young children, and it would be a gross impropriety even 
to set forth in their presence, much less to make them 
judges of, a case of flagrant immorality. In most cases of 
this character it is better that the trial be by a commission, 
or a board of arbitration, the final vote to be by the whole 
body of adult members of the church. 

May a Member Be Granted a Letter While Under 
Charges? Ordinarily not. No member on trial is entitled 
to escape the just condemnation of his deeds by withdraw- 
ing from the church under charges. Yet there occur 
situations in which charges growing out of the violent dis- 
agreement of two members increase in bitterness to a point 
at which the church threatens to be rent in twain, and 
where the situation can be clarified by a mutual agreement 
that one of the members, being otherwise worthy of com- 
mendation, shall remove to another church, the charges 
against him being withdrawn in the process. Such a mem- 
ber, it will be noted, does not really withdraw while under 
charges. 

May a Member Be Dropped While Under Charges? 
A member may not be dropped from the church roll while 
charges are pending against him, nor while he is presenting 
charges against another member. 

Dropping Names from the Church Roll. Nor should a member 
be dropped while charges against him are pending. If a man be 
under charges, the case should go to trial, that the man may be 
acquitted or condemned. To drop his name, even at his own 
request, under charges, would be the perversion of discipline. If 
a man prefer charges against a church member or the pastor, the 
matter cannot be evaded by dropping the complainant, either with 



336 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

or without censure, until such charges have been properly disposed 
of. It were abhorrent thus to punish a man for beginning process 
of discipline; and the dropping of his name under such circum- 
stances would properly be held to be a confession of guilt or of 
fear of conviction on the part of those doing it or permitting it 
to be done. If charges are preferred against a man or officer 
through spite or persecution, the motive should be exposed in the 
trial and the false accuser of the brethren should be punished by 
proper church action. But absent members may sometimes be 
dropped from the roll. Such members should be hunted up and 
labored with, and so induced to take letters; but if they will not 
join another church, they should be dealt with severally as they 
deserve; if they desire to retain the old connection, let it be re- 
tained under such conditions as the church may deem best to 
impose; if they are indifferent or repellent, let their names be 
dropped with or without censure as the church may deem best. But 
unconverted members who have joined the church under a mis- 
take, and perhaps under moral pressure, whose lives are free from 
scandal, may, if they desire it, be dropped without censure. To 
excommunicate such, with all the dishonor attaching thereto, were 
unjust and cruel. It damages the discipline of a church by putting 
no difference between a mistake and a sin. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, 
pp. 258-259. 

May a Member Be Tried in His Absence? In some 
cases it is necessary that an accused member be tried in 
his absence. If the member accused has been guilty of a 
criminal offense, and is in prison, he may be represented 
at his trial by his next friend; but in every such case the 
accused should be served notice of the proposed action and 
permitted to choose the friend who shall represent him. 
Notice having been given, at a regular meeting of the 
church, of the charges against him and of the subsequent 
time at which a vote will be taken, he may be expelled from 
the membership of the church, if no objection is raised by 
any member. 

In case the accused person is not in prison, but has left 
for parts unknown, a letter mailed to his last known place 
of address may be held to be a sufficient notice of the action 
to be taken against him. In such cases, however, the vote 
of suspension or expulsion having been moved and sec- 
onded, should commonly be laid upon the table for one or 
more weeks before final action. It is usually desirable that 
notices sent by mail be registered. 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 337 

Excommunication in the Absence of the Offender. Thus the 
church excluded Mr. Eaton, first teacher of the school in Cam- 
bridge (Winthrop's Journal, i, 313). If it be asked, How is this 
consistent with the rule in Matt. 18? it is answered, in the lan- 
guage of one of the old Puritan writers, "Whatever is the dictate 
of the law of nature is the law of God." Otherwise, the delinquent 
might claim to be in good standing in the church, so long as he 
kept out of the way. — Cummings: Cong. Diet. 

Should a Member Guilty of Crime Remain a Member? 

Perplexing questions sometimes arise in cases of members 
prominent in church work who have been overtaken in a 
fault and sentenced to imprisonment. Pathetic appeals are 
sometimes made that the names of these persons be retained 
on the church roll. In case the church is fully assured of 
the penitence of such a member, it may esteem it its duty 
to retain his name upon the roll and extend him a helping 
hand at the expiration of his prison term; but a church 
taking such action will need to observe extreme caution 
lest its sympathy with an offender cause it to forget its 
duty to bear an uncompromising testimony against the 
wrong which he has committed. 

It often occurs that discipline is most difficult and com- 
plicated in the very cases whose grossness and wide pub- 
licity leave no doubt what should be done, but nevertheless 
make ordinary procedure next to impossible. In such in- 
stances Dr. Dexter wisely said: 

Public Offenses. As where a church member should commit 
robbery or murder, or leave his own wife and marry another. Here, 
as in all other cases, what the gospel seeks, if possible, is the re- 
formation of the offender, on the one hand, as really as the vindica- 
tion of the honor of the church on the other. Hence, while in such 
cases of flagrant and public misdemeanor and dishonor, it may be 
suitable to pass at once a vote suspending such an offender from 
church privilege until his case can be investigated, all private pre- 
liminary steps should be taken before the actual trial; whose re- 
sult must, unless the Spirit of the Lord interpose with a remarkable 
work of grace, and in his ignominious expulsion from all church 
privilege. — Dexter: Handbook, p. 107. 

No Excommunication in Another Church. For although we 
may advise, exhort, warn, reprove, etc., so far as Christian love 
and power extend, yet we find no authority committed to one con- 
gregation over another for excommunicating. . . . Christ re- 
serveth this power in his own hands. — Ainsworth: Communion of 
Saints, in Han. i, 285. 



338 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

For What Offenses May a Church Try a Minister? A 

minister may be tried for any offense of which any member 
of the church could be tried, but in his capacity as a min- 
ister and as a pastor the grounds of action against him may 
be any one of three. 

(i) Gross Immorality. This does not mean any small 
act of wrong-doing, but some serious departure from ethi- 
cal standards inconsistent with his continued usefulness as 
a minister. 

(2) Neglect of Pastoral Duty. This, too, must be a seri- 
ous neglect, one that materially diminishes his usefulness 
as a minister, either in failure to study, attention to pas- 
toral service, or such prejudice or infirmity of temper as 
unfits him for reasonable efficiency. 

(3) Essential Change in Belief. This does not mean that 
the minister has no right to grow, but that he is guilty of 
such an essential modification of his doctrinal views as to 
disqualify him for the performance of his best work as 
pastor and teacher of his people. 

Can a Local Church Expel a Minister? A local church 
can expel a minister from its own pastorate, but that neither 
terminates nor impairs his ministerial standing. It can ex- 
pel him from its membership, and that act will impair but 
will not terminate his ministerial standing. Although with- 
out local church membership he cannot qualify as a minister 
in full standing or exercise the legal or spiritual functions 
of a minister until his disability is removed, the act of his 
expulsion from the local church can do no more than sus- 
pend his ministerial prerogatives and impair his standing. 
Otherwise a local church might in an outburst of prejudic« 
against its pastor depose him entirely from the ministry 
This it cannot do, but it can disqualify him from exercising 
his office until his disability is removed. This can be done 
by his securing membership in another Congregational 
church. 

Any church expelling its minister from its membership 
would have a further duty, namely, that of bringing charges 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 339 

against him before the Association or before a council called 
for the purpose in order to terminate wholly his ministerial 
standing. 

No church should receive into its membership a minister 
who has been so expelled until there has been opportunity 
for the expelling church to formulate charges against him 
before the Association or the council, and the receiving of 
such a minister by another church under those conditions 
would be an unfriendly and unbecoming act. 

If, however, a minister should be expelled from mem- 
bership in a local church, and that church should decline or 
unreasonably delay to bring further charges against him 
with apparent intent maliciously to injure his ministerial 
standing, a sister church convinced that an injustice was 
being done him might receive him into its membership, but 
should first appeal to the former church either to restore 
him or to submit the case to trial. 

Ministerial Standing and the Year Book. This Year Book list 
does not affirm the good standing of all who are upon it. It is 
made up of the names sent in by the registrars of state or local 
ecclesiastical bodies, or, in some states, of ministerial associations. 
It is only presumptive evidence as to the standing and character 
of those whose names are included. — Boynton: Congregational Way, 
p. 87. 

Ministerial Standing Not in Local Church. Ministerial standing 
cannot be held in local churches. If the ministerial function were 
confined to the pastoral relation, and a man ceased to be a minister 
the moment he ceased to be pastor, — which some have held to 
be "the necessary verdict of the principles of Congregationalism" 
(Congregationalism, Dr. H. M. Dexter, 150) — then ministerial 
standing would be held in local churches, since a vote to remove 
a pastor from office would be his deposition from the ministry; 
and besides, he, while pastor of one church, would be a layman 
everywhere beyond that church. But this theory of the ministry 
was not embraced by the English or other Congregationalists, and 
soon ceased to be held in New England (Mather's Magnalia, ii, 
239). In answer to the seventh point raised by the ministers of 
Old England, the ministers of New England, about 1638, held that 
a church might depose from his office an unfit or unworthy pastor; 
but if one should be set aside without sufficient cause, he would 
still remain a minister of Christ (Felt's Eccl. Hist., i, 368). This 
answer rests on the fact of a ministerial function wider than the 
pastorate, to which Christ calls men. — Ross: Church-Kingdom, p. 
157. 



340 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Associational Membership a Necessity. In the decline of in- 
stallation, ministerial standing has passed over to the Associations 
of churches. We have reached such proportions that we can secure 
good order in no less methodical way. — Nash: Cong. Administra- 
tion, pp. 89-90. 

The utter failure of the older method in cases of minis- 
terial discipline could have no better illustration than in 
Dr. Ladd's great book, in which, after showing how a local 
church might deal with an installed pastor, and possibly, 
by a stretch of local autonomy, with an acting pastor, he 
faced finally the crux of the question of a minister's relation 
to the churches apart from his responsibility to a local 
church, and in his answer put his entire system into invol- 
untary bankruptcy. 

If the further question be asked, What shall be done for the 
ministerial purity of notably impure and heretical men who are 
neither pastors of churches nor acknowledged members of any 
ministerial body? the question itself must be declared to be on the 
very verge of absurdity. The churches that wittingly hear them 
may be admonished, so that these blind leaders shall not be leaders 
of the blind. But, as for the men themselves, the purity of the 
ministry is best preserved by letting them alone, that alone they 
may fall into their ditch. From this ditch the memory of a former 
ordination will not preserve them; and, when they are once con- 
sciously there, a helping hand may best be extended to them for 
the restoration, not, in any case, of their ministerial standing, but 
of their characters, and for the saving of their souls. — Principles 
of Church Polity, p. 252. 

May a Church Bring Action Against a Minister Who Is 
Not Its Own Pastor or One of Its Members? The only 
sensible answer is in the negative. There have been, how- 
ever, suggestions of a contrary answer. One of them is 
held, though probably incorrectly, to have been given by the 
National Council, at St. Louis, in 1880: 

Resolved (3), That the body of churches in any locality have 
the inalienable right of extending ministerial fellowship to, or 
withholding fellowship from, any person within their bounds, no 
matter what his relation may be in church membership or ecclesi- 
astical affiliations, the proceedings to be commenced by any 
church, and to be conducted with due regard to equity. — Minutes 
of 1880, p. 17. 

Of the wisdom of this resolution in its probable intent, 
and the vast unwisdom of its possible application to the 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 341 

trial of a minister by a church of which he is not a member, 
Dr. Ross wisely said: 

The method of putting this inalienable right into operation for 
clearing the churches of unworthy ministers is manifestly sepa- 
rable from the right itself. The right may be exercised in one way 
at one time and place, and in another way at another time and 
place. The right must not be confounded with the method of 
exercising it. The method indicated in the resolutions is through 
a council called for the purpose, the proceedings to be commenced 
by any church. This method is so defective as to render the right 
which is inalienable practically inoperative, (a) A church may 
possibly, in rare instances, deal with its own pastor in discipline, 
but it is safe to say that it will never begin proceedings against 
the pastor of a neighboring church. If asked to do this, it will 
demur, (b) No better device for stirring up strife between two 
churches was ever imagined than the one given in these resolutions 
of the National Council, making it the duty of one church to begin 
proceedings against the pastor of a sister church, (c) A similar 
process for dealing with a wayward church [Plymouth Church, 
Brooklyn], instead of its pastor, has been tried a few times, stirring 
up the bitterest animosity, and utterly failing of good results. — 
Church-Kingdom, pp. 285-286. 

For What Offenses May an Association Try a Minister? 

An Association may try a ministerial member for conduct 
unbecoming a minister, for disturbing the peace of the 
churches, or for heresy. If found guilty, he may be admon- 
ished, rebuked, suspended, or deposed from the ministry. 
He may be suspended with the provision that unless he 
shows repentance within a year, or at the end of some speci- 
fied period, his name shall be dropped from the roll without 
further trial. 

May an Association Try a Minister Who Is Not a Mem- 
ber? The responsibility of an Association for ministerial 
standing extends only to its own members. But either a 
district or state body may issue a protest to another Dis- 
trict Association with reference to an unworthy act, affect- 
ing its own interests or the interests of the church at large, 
by a ministerial member of the Association to which the 
protest is issued. The following may serve as an example : 

The pastor of a church in St. Louis went upon the lec- 
ture platform delivering addresses against the work of the 
Anti-Saloon League, and in this capacity entered another 



342 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

state where an election was approaching, in which the 
churches generally were actively supporting the anti-saloon 
movement. It was charged that he was in the pay of the 
saloon interests, but this was not proved or necessary to be 
proved. Had he delivered these addresses in his own church 
and that church been satisfied, no Association in another 
state could properly have protested. But the case was 
wholly altered when he invaded other parishes under con- 
ditions such as have been described, and his act brought an 
inevitable and entirely proper protest from an Association 
in the sister state. It could not, of course, bring him to 
trial, but could and did protest against his unbrotherly act, 
and ask for an investigation and action by his own Associa- 
tion. 

Authority of an Association Over Its Own Members. Neither 
a state nor local body has authority over a minister or church not 
a member of it by his or its own voluntary act. If it deems that 
it is necessary to proceed against a church or minister in this 
position, it should communicate with the body in which the mem- 
bership inheres. It may of course decline to receive any applicant 
to its fellowship, being responsible for such action to the body 
whose letter of dismission and commendation is thus discredited. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 127. 

May a Minister Be Tried by a Commission? An Asso- 
ciation may appoint a commission to investigate charges 
against a minister, but the decision of the commission should 
be affirmed by the Association, and it must be affirmed in 
order to be valid unless the minister himself consents in 
advance to be tried by the commission, or subsequently sub- 
mits to its judgment. 

Can an Association Expel a Pastor? An Association 
cannot expel a pastor from his pastorate against the will of 
the church of which he is a member and pastor. The local 
Congregational church has the indisputable right to call as 
its minister a man who is not approved by the Association, 
but a minister so called or so retained has no standing as a 
minister outside of that particular local church. His name 
would appear in the Year Book, if at all, as that of a lay- 
man supplying a church. Marriages performed by him 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 343 

would not be legal. A council would be compelled to re- 
ceive him if he came as a delegate from the church, but not 
as pastor, nor could the church claim the right to send a 
lay delegate in addition. The local church might authorize 
him to administer the sacraments within that church, and 
the sacraments thus administered would be valid, but his 
ministerial standing would be impaired and could only be 
restored by the rescinding of the act of the Association 
which had impaired his standing. On the termination of 
said pastorate whatever of ministerial character he might 
have had as pastor of that church would wholly and finally 
cease. 

Does Deposition from the Ministry Destroy Church 
Membership? Deposition from the ministry does not carry 
with it by the same act excommunication from the local 
church. The local church cannot confer ministerial stand- 
ing, neither can it destroy it. The Association cannot con- 
fer local church membership, neither can it destroy it. A 
minister may be deposed from the ministry and still be 
worthy to be retained in church membership, or if un- 
worthy of ministerial standing he may still be retained in 
church fellowship in the hope of his future repentance. 

By Whom May a Minister Be Restored to Fellowship? 
A minister from whom fellowship has been withdrawn can 
be restored to local church fellowship by securing mem- 
bership in a local church, and can complete his ministerial 
standing by securing fellowship in an Association. In such 
a case the acts of restoration should ordinarily be by the 
identical body that accomplished his deposition. 

What Is the Process of Trial of a Minister? First — Com- 
plaint must be made against him by some reputable person, 
who should be a member in good standing of some church. 
The advisory committee or other appropriate standing com- 
mittee of the District Association may itself bring the com- 
plaint, on direct evidence, or it may prefer charges on the 
ground of common fame ; or, if he has been convicted of a 
crime by any court of record, that fact is a sufficient basis 



344 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONA L USAGE 

for an immediate action which should be brought in the 
name of the officers of the Association. 

Second — He should be served with a notice of the 
charges against him, and the time and place when his case 
will be tried. In case his address is unknown, notice should 
be given him by registered mail at his last known address 
as given in the Congregational Year Book. 

Third — A minister is entitled to counsel, or he may plead 
his own case. He may introduce professional counsel, if he 
desires, but the Association may, and usually should, insist 
that the attorney representing him should be a member in 
good standing of some Congregational church. 

Fourth — In the hearing of evidence, the ordinary rules of 
courts and deliberative bodies are to be followed without, 
however, insisting upon the technicalities of court proce- 
dure. A much wider range of evidence may be considered 
than would be admitted in civil courts. Ecclesiastical courts 
have no power to compel witnesses, and must secure such 
testimony as is available. Such courts are justified in giv- 
ing considerably greater weight to appearances than in civil 
courts. In general, they must assume that acts, particu- 
larly when often repeated, mean what they seem to mean. 
Church courts cannot go behind closed doors, but may 
briefly consider the apparent reason why the doors were 
closed, or may challenge the right of the accused to screen 
himself behind them. In general, a minister's frequent visi- 
tation of a questionable place under circumstances and with 
apparent motives naturally exciting suspicion or indicating 
a wrong intent, must, in the absence of strong contrary evi- 
dence, be conceded as establishing a presumption of the 
form and kind of conduct which the nature of the place 
appears to indicate. 

On the other hand, a minister must be entitled to every 
reasonable presumption in favor of his innocence. Where 
his previous record has been good, and especially if those 
who are accusing him appear to be actuated by any motive 
of malice or revenge, or if there be an appearance of a con- 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 345 

spiracy for blackmail, or of an attempt to injure him in the 
interests of evil men whose enmity he has earned by fidelity 
to duty, a church court may very properly insist upon the 
very strongest evidence before consenting to destroy the 
reputation and usefulness of a man who may be falsely 
accused. 

May a Church Court Censure a False Accuser? A church 
court may censure a false accuser, and it sometimes has a 
solemn duty so to do. In civil courts only the accused is 
on trial, but in ecclesiastical courts, in a very important 
sense, the accuser also stands before the bar. If he is not 
a member of the body before which he prefers the charges, 
the only opportunity of that body to conclude a case with 
justice may be to add a vote of censure of the accuser to 
that of exoneration of the accused. 

To this end, a person preferring charges against a min- 
ister should be warned at the outset by the moderator of 
the grave nature of the thing he is about to do, of the legal 
and moral value of ministerial reputation, and of the grave 
responsibility assumed by one who would recklessly de- 
stroy so valuable an asset of an influential man. If the 
charges against the minister be not sustained, but it is 
apparent they were brought in good faith, a vote of exonera- 
tion will be sufficient, but if it appear they were brought in 
malice, the body before whom his case is tried will be fully 
justified in recording its judgment that the prosecution was 
malicious. 

May an Association Delegate a Trial to a Commission? 
An Association may delegate the trial of a minister to a 
commission, but the final vote must be by the Association 
itself, and appeal may be had from the commission to the 
Association. 

May an Association Try a Member for Heresy? An 
Association may try one of its own members for heresy. 
Evidence should be submitted, if possible in the precise 
words of some authorized publication, or by the testimony 
of actual witnesses, establishing the radical departure of 



346 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the member from the standards of orthodox Congregational 
teaching. In such a trial, creeds of acknowledged weight 
in the denomination may be used as a testimony of the 
faith of the denomination at the time when the creeds sev- 
erally were adopted, and as showing the general trend of 
actual opinion. But the accused has a right to demand that 
the creed, which is the opinion of men, and of men prob- 
ably dead, be weighed in the balance with the living opinion 
of the man accused. All opinions must finally be judged 
by the Holy Scripture as interpreted by the living Spirit 
of Truth. 

May Ecclesiastical Trials Be Held in Private? Eccle- 
siastical trials may be held in private whenever in the 
judgment of the body conducting them it is desirable that 
this should be done. 

May a Minister Be Tried by Council? A minister may 
be tried by a mutual council, or by an ex-parte council if 
he refuse to join in a mutual council. Rarely should a 
minister be tried by an ex-parte council, however, and sel- 
dom will the finding of such a council have weight. The 
Association is a body much more fit than such a council in 
determining without prejudice a question relating to the 
ministry. From the decision of a mutual council, regularly 
called and competent to pass upon the case, an Association 
will not permit an appeal to be taken to itself. It will 
commonly base its own action upon the finding of such a 
council officially reported to it. The Association before 
concurring in the finding of an ex-parte council should care- 
fully inquire whether the council had jurisdiction, and has 
done substantial justice. 

May a State Conference Try a Minister? A State Con- 
ference may not try a minister. Nevertheless, a State Con- 
ference has a right to judge of its own membership, and if 
it has reason to believe that a member accredited to it by a 
District Association is unworthy of such membership, it 
may request his Association to investigate his standing. 
When such membership, however, is finally established in 



ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE 347 

the District Association, the right to membership also in 
the State Conference is established. 

May the National Council Try a Minister? The National 
Council may not try a minister, nor may it refuse to re- 
ceive into its membership a person duly accredited by the 
churches. 

May the Results of an Ecclesiastical Trial Be Published? 
Discipline by an ecclesiastical body extends only to such 
powers and penalties as are implied in membership in such 
a body. The general principle is that discipline by a local 
church may be published in and to the local church; that 
discipline by an Association may be made known to the 
members of the Association. Any publicity beyond this 
must justify itself in the nature of the case and the reason 
for the action. In the case of a minister expelled from an 
Association and thereby deprived of ministerial standing in 
the denomination, the fact of such expulsion and the charge 
upon which expulsion is grounded may be published in the 
denominational press; but this does not justify the wide- 
spread publication of his disgrace through any motive of 
revenge. The purpose of publicity is not the injury of 
the offender beyond such reasonable and necessary injury 
as is involved in the decision itself and the normal and 
proper publicity thereof. If reporters have been present 
during the trial, the reporters are entitled also to copies of 
the rinding. If the trial has been in private, the publication 
should be confined to the result of the trial without detail. 
No absolute rule of law or of ecclesiastical custom exists 
that covers all cases. Inasmuch as ministerial standing in 
the Congregational denomination is nation-wide, the whole 
body of churches has a right to know, and be on their guard 
against, a man who has been found unworthy to continue 
in the Congregational ministry; but the publication of this 
knowledge must not be permitted to degenerate into vin- 
dictiveness. The purpose of publicity must be protection, 
and not persecution. 

Dr. Boynton was correct in his judgment that expulsion 



348 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

from church membership should not be accompanied by any- 
vindictive action, though hardly right in maintaining that 
there should be no record other than the fact that the per- 
son expelled is not in fellowship. The record should state 
the reason for the act, whether "for an absence unexplained 
or a gross sin." And there are times when a more public 
statement must be made, though as a rule this is not neces- 
sary. Dr. Boynton said: 

It does not seem necessary or wise for a church in terminating 
membership to inflict censure, or indeed to express its judgment 
except as to the facts. The church can only record the fact that 
a certain person is or is not in its fellowship, that is, entitled to 
and actually participating in its work and privileges. The old idea 
of excommunication as a censure and curse was not a Scriptural 
one. Excommunication means simply out of communion. It is 
sufficient to record on the books of the church the declaration that 
such an one "is no longer in the communion of this church," and 
state the reason for this declaration. It may be an absence unex- 
plained, or a gross sin; the statement of the fact suggests the 
measure of blame. Nor need such action be announced from the 
pulpit on the Lord's Day. That might do much more harm than 
good and disturb the service and distract attention. A church 
should always act in such a case with deep regret, and this should 
be manifested in each step of the proceeding and in the result and 
its record and announcement. — Congregational Way, pp. 79, 80. 



XXL THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 

Have We Sacraments or Ordinances? An ordinance is 
an established custom, rule or appointment: a rite, cere- 
mony or practice constituted by authority or recognized 
usage. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an 
inward and spiritual grace. In this sense we have ordi- 
nances which are also sacraments. But if the term sacra- 
ment is used to indicate a magical sacerdotal operation, we 
regard it as little better than a superstition, and possibly 
worse. Our sacraments are ordinances appointed by the 
Lord Jesus Christ for his church, but have in them nothing 
of priestly magic. 

Scriptural Order and Worship. It was with regard unto Church 
Order and Discipline, that our pious Ancestors, the Good old 
Puritan Nonconformists, transported themselves and their Families, 
over the vast Ocean to these goings down of the Sun. On which 
account, a Degeneracy from the Principles of pure Scriptural Wor- 
ship and Order in the Church, would be more Evil in the Children 
of New-England, than any other People in the World. — Cotton 
Mather; Ratio Discipline, iv. 

The Permanence of Our Principles. Some [among us] are 
great Blessings to the Churches, as inheriting the Principles, 
Spirit, and Grace of their Fathers and Grand-Fathers; but many 
of them do not so. On which account, it is not at all to be won- 
dered at, if they Dislike the Good Old Way of the Churches; yea, 
if they Scoff at it, as some of them do; or if they are willing to 
depart from what is Ordinarily Practiced in the Churches of Christ 
in New- England. For the Congregational Church Discipline is not 
Suited for a Worldly Interest, or for a Formal Generation of Pro- 
fessors. It will stand or fall as Godliness in the Power of it does 
prevail, or otherwise. — Increase Mather: Order of the Gospel, ii. 

What Is the Congregational Doctrine of Baptism? Con- 

gregationalists teach that baptism is an outward sign of 
an inward grace, and that it typifies washing from sin, and 
union with Christ. 

To Whom May Baptism Be Administered? Baptism is 
to be administered to believers and to their children. 

In What Form May Baptism Be Administered? Bap- 
tism may be administered in a reverent application of water 



350 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

to the body in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. 

Controversies concerning the mode of baptism have 
comparatively little interest for Congregationalists. As to 
form, it is permitted to each member to be fully persuaded 
in his own mind. It is generally conceded by Congrega- 
tional scholars that in the early Church baptism was com- 
monly by immersion. Those who make this concession con- 
tend, however, that the mere form of the rite received no 
emphasis, or even any unmistakable definition, in the New 
Testament, and that to overemphasize the matter of form 
is contrary to the spirit of the gospel. ' 

Did the Early Church Practice Baptism by Immersion 
Exclusively? We are certain that the early churches some- 
times practiced baptism by other modes than immersion. 

Dating from the early part of the second century, the 
instructions are to baptize if practicable in running water, 
but if no running water is available then in a pool, and if 
no natural body of water is at hand then in an artificial 
body, artificially heated, but in case none of these forms is 
practicable, then baptism is to be performed by affusion. 

Now concerning baptism, baptize ye thus: having said all these 
things beforehand, baptize ye into the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost in living water. But if thou have 
not living water, baptize into other water; and if thou canst not 
in cold, in warm. But if thou have neither, pour out water thrice 
upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Ghost. 
And before the baptism let the baptizer fast and the baptized, and 
whatever others can: and thou shalt command the baptized to fast 
for one or two days beforehand. — Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 
ch. vii. 

From this and other records it appears that immersion 
was the preferred and customary form, but it is certain 
that the Lord Jesus placed little emphasis upon the external 
form. An instructive illustration is found in the manner 
in which He observed the Passover. In the Jewish ritual 
it was set forth as a permanent ordinance that those who 
ate the Passover were to eat it with staffs in their hands 
and sandals on their feet; that they were to eat in haste 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 351 

and go out quickly. At the time when Jesus lived, all these 
details were disregarded and Jesus and his disciples ate the 
Passover reclining, with sandals laid aside, and after the 
meal remained for a considerable time in conversation. It 
is quite inconceivable that our Lord, who himself so habitu- 
ally disregarded mere form and who left the form of his 
own baptism so obscurely indicated and nowhere specifi- 
cally enjoined, should have made any particular form of 
this or any rite a condition of membership in his Church. 

May Infants Be Baptized? There is no recorded and 
indubitable instance of infant baptism in the New Testa- 
ment. The number of cases, however, in which believers 
were baptized with their households and the fact that Jew- 
ish households commonly contained children, together with 
the fact that under the Jewish covenant infants were pre- 
sented in the temple and brought up as children of the cove- 
nant, affords at least a presumption that the children may 
have been baptized. The Scriptures certainly contain no 
prohibition, and the valid testimony of experience is in 
favor of the practical value of such an ordinance. Children 
of believers are not to be regarded as belonging to Satan, 
but as belonging to Christ, and should be dedicated to Him 
and reared in expectation that they will make their parents' 
faith their own. 

Infant Baptism. Congregationalists, in common with the 
majority of other Christians, hold that believers and their house- 
holds are proper subjects of baptism, not because it was distinctly 
commanded by Jesus, but because the rite by which this was 
preceded was so administered, and because there are no indications 
in the New Testament that the Christian Church was to be nar- 
rower than the Jewish, and there are indications that it was as 
inclusive of the household. Children are not baptized in order to 
constitute any new relation between them and the Lord or his 
Church, but in recognition of the fact that the children of Christian 
parents belong to the family of God and have a right to the Chris- 
tian teaching and example of the home and the church. The bap- 
tism of children is not, however, insisted on, but left to the indi- 
vidual conviction of parents. — Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 69. 

Should Children of Non-Christian Parents Be Baptized? 

Each church is competent to decide for itself the conditions 



352 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

under which children shall be accepted for baptism. It is 
commonly held that all children should be baptized whose 
parents will enter into covenant to train them in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord. 

Should Dying Children Be Baptized? Dying children 
should not be baptized through any pretense that such an 
act is essential to their salvation. "Of such is the kingdom 
of heaven, ,, but a minister ought not to refuse to baptize 
a dying child whose parents desire the act to be performed, 
even if in their case something of superstition enters into 
the desire for the baptism. It may or may not be a time 
in which the parents can be instructed concerning the deeper 
meanings of Christian baptism, but the wise pastor will 
improve the opportunity and the days that follow to make 
the act of consecration one that includes the parents as well 
as the child. 

Do Congregationalists Teach Baptismal Regeneration? 
Congregationalists do not teach, and rarely, if ever, have 
believed, in baptismal regeneration. Even those early Cal- 
vmists who believed that some children are non-elect com- 
monly did not hold that baptism or the lack of it determined 
the fact of the election. The poem of Michael Wiggles- 
worth, entitled "The Day of Doom," has sometimes been 
quoted to prove that Congregationalists once believed in 
the loss of unbaptized infants, but this is a mistake. The 
infants in that poem who were given a place "in the easiest 
room in Hell" were non-elect infants, and no reference was 
made to the question whether they were or were not bap- 
tized. 

Congregationalists hold that the process of regeneration 
belongs to the inward working of the Spirit of God. Of 
this regeneration baptism is a beautiful and appropriate 
symbol, but it is not the cause or the agent of it. 

If ever Congregationalists believed in the condemnation 
of any children by reason of Adam's sin, they held that 
view at a time when Christians generally were holding it, 
and that view of the fate of infants was probably never 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 353 

worse than that of their neighbors, both Calvinistic and 
Arminian. The author of this volume has read somewhat 
extensively in the literature of Congregationalism and has 
never been able to discover in any book, sermon, or tract, 
by any American Congregational minister, any statement 
which would justify the declaration that American Congre- 
gationalists have ever believed in the eternal damnation of 
unbaptized children. 

What Is the Status of Baptized Infants? Children who 
have been baptized and nurtured in the Church are not to 
be regarded as without the covenant, neither are they to be 
considered as full members of the church. They are to be 
cherished and instructed in full expectation that on their 
arrival at a suitable age they will gladly enter into the fel- 
lowship of the Church. They are not to be regarded as of 
the world, nor is it to be expected that their conversion will 
have those marks of struggle and surrender which belong 
to the life of certain sinners running to Christ. They are to 
be considered as children of God and of the Church. The 
confession of their faith should not be regarded as primarily 
a confession of sin, and their entering into the fellowship 
of the Church should not be thought of as, ipso facto, the 
abandonment of a life of sin. For them the pastor may 
profitably hold classes of instruction, particularly during the 
weeks of the winter and spring. It is eminently fitting that 
on Easter or Children's Day, or at the end of the year, these 
children should be received into full membership in the 
Church. The weeks of the Lenten season offer an increas- 
ingly favorable opportunity for such instruction as these 
young people require. It is appropriate that for such young 
people a special form of admission to the Church should be 
provided, and there is no valid reason why this should not 
be called a confirmation service. 

A suitable form for such service has been provided in the 
author's Congregational Handbook, pp. 279-281. 

Who May Administer Baptism? In ordinary cases bap- 



354 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

tism is to be administered only by ordained ministers of 
the gospel. A church may for good reason authorize a 
licentiate or one of its deacons or other members to admin- 
ister this ordinance, but this should be done only for good 
reason and in exceptional cases. However, even the Roman 
Catholic Church admits the validity of lay baptism, and 
Congregationalists cannot deny it when there is reverent 
intent to administer baptism as a Christian ordinance. It 
is customary in the Roman Catholic Church to instruct 
mid-wives to baptize infants dying at birth. One of the 
early accounts of capture by the Indians in New England 
records the fact that French missionaries had instructed 
their Indian converts to baptize white infants before they 
tomahawked them. 

Who May Baptize. In itself considered, the laity also have 
the right to administer the sacraments, and to teach in the commu- 
nity. The Word of God and the sacraments were communicated to 
all, and may therefore be communicated by all Christians, as instru- 
ments of Divine grace. If we look at the order necessary to be 
maintained in the Church, the laity are to exercise their priestly 
rights of administering the sacraments only when the time and 
the circumstances require it. — Tertullian: Baptism, ch. 17. Cited 
by Neander, Ch. Hist., Vol. I, p. 796. 

At first, all who were engaged in propagating Christianity, ad- 
ministered this ordinance [baptism], nor can it be called in ques- 
tion that whoever persuaded any person to embrace Christianity 
could baptize his own disciple. — Mosheim: Eccl. Hist, Cent. I., 
Part II, ch. iv, sec. 8. 

There are positively no sacred rites or acts which it is declared 
in the New Testament must be administered by men ordained or 
in any way separated from the general body of Christians. The 
two sacraments are justly considered the most solemn of Christian 
ordinances. But even of them such administration is nowhere 
commanded. — Jacob: Eccl. Polity of the New Testament, p. 144. 

There is no one passage in the New Testament which proves 
that it is the exclusive right of the elders to baptize. And yet the 
notion is tenaciously held. Coming as it does from the Church of 
Rome, and received from that source by the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, it has taken hold of other denominations. — Davidson: Eccl. 
Polity of the N. T., pp. 280, 283-286. 

The supposed need in the case of evangelists and missionaries 
grows out of the assumption that only an ordained person has the 
right to administer baptism and the Lord's Supper. But that 
assumption is a legacy of popery which Congregationalism will 
do well to decline; since the Bible does neither affirm nor endorse 
it. Scripturally one of the deacons, or any brother of the church 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 355 

— — — ^ - — — ■ 

whom it may authorize for the purpose, is competent — in the 
absence of the pastor — to baptize, or preside at the remembrance 
of Christ at the Lord's Supper. — Dexter: Congregationalism, p. 155. 
I have found nothing in the Bible, and nothing in what I have 
seen of the earliest Christian writers, which implies that it was the 
peculiar duty, or the peculiar honor of this or that officer, to 
administer baptism. — Leonard Bacon: Manual of Ch. Polity, p. 58. 

Baptism by Savages. One Jesuit came to me, and asked whether 
all the English at Loret (a place not far from Quebec) where the 
savages lived, were baptized. I told him they were. He said, "If 
they be not, let me know of it, that I may baptize them, for fear 
they should die, and be damned, if they die without baptism." Says 
he, "When the savages went against you, I charged them to baptize 
all children before they killed them; such was my desire of your 
eternal salvation, though you were our enemies." — Rev. John Wil- 
liams: The Redeemed Captive, p. 65 (1696). 

Baptism by an Unlawful Minister. Baptism, by an unlawful 
minister, of an unfit subject, and in an unsanctified communion 
and unlawful manner, is true baptism, unlawfully and falsely ad- 
ministered. — John Robinson: iii, 186. 

Do Congregationalists Acknowledge Self-Baptism? Cer- 
tain of the early Puritans baptized themselves, but this was 
not then regarded as regular, and is not considered as valid 
by Congregationalists. 

Do We Acknowledge the Baptism of Other Denomina- 
tions? All persons baptized by other branches of the Chris- 
tian Church with intent to perform and receive Christian 
baptism are to be regarded as baptized. 

Is Roman Catholic Baptism Valid? Persons who have 
been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church are to be re- 
garded by Protestants as having been baptized. The Roman 
Catholic Church, while not the Church of Christ, is a part 
of the Church of Christ, and its errors of doctrine and gov- 
ernment cannot properly be held to invalidate baptism per- 
formed within it. 

The Validity of Roman Catholic Baptism. This seems to have 
been admitted by all the early Congregationalists. — Hanbury: i, 
310, 311. 

Where God requireth his people to come out of Babylon, He 
doth not require them to leave whatsoever is there had, but re- 
quireth them to have no more communion with her sins. — Francis 
Johnson: Treatise vs. Two Errors, in Hanbury, i, 169. 

Is Baptism to Be Performed a Second Time? Ordinarily 



356 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

a person once baptized is not to be re-baptized, but there is 
no reason why re-baptism should be held in any supersti- 
tious fear. If a person who was baptized in infancy comes 
to feel that he ought to be baptized as a part of his own 
personal confession of faith, he should be shown, if he can 
be shown, how beautiful and valid an act his own confes- 
sion of Christ may be if he will perform it as fully making 
vital the act of his parents in his behalf. But if he still 
insists and feels that he cannot be comfortable in his own 
conscience without baptism as a part of his own confession, 
there is no valid objection to his being baptized. Some 
ministers in such cases employ the form "If thou art not 
already baptized, I baptize thee." There is no particular 
objection to the use of such a form, but Congregationalists 
generally do not regard it as necessary, or hold that re-bap- 
tism when performed as a requirement of conscience is a 
matter for disputation or of superstitious fear. 

Are Sponsors Permitted in Baptism? Sponsors are not 
required, but may be permitted, in baptism in Congrega- 
tional churches. The parents themselves should present 
their own children for baptism, and should covenant with 
God and the Church that they will train these children in 
the Christian faith. If they desire to associate with them- 
selves any near friends or relatives who willingly share their 
obligation and covenant, there is no valid objection to their 
doing so. 

Is the Baptism of an Excommunicated Person Valid? 
If a person has been baptized and afterward excommuni- 
cated from the Church his baptism is not invalidated. If 
he later repents and is restored to fellowship it is not neces- 
sary that he be re-baptized. 

What Is the Lord's Supper? The Lord's Supper is an 
ordinance of the Church of Christ, instituted by Jesus Him- 
self, and performed by the Church in all ages since in imita- 
tion of his example and in obedience to his command. 

What Is the Significance of the Lord's Supper? The 
Lord's Supper is a memorial of the death of Jesus, a re- 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 357 

minder of the providence and care of God in provision of 
bread for the bodies and souls of men, a tangible emblem 
of a spiritual grace which manifested itself in the gift of 
Christ, an expression of unbroken fellowship, and a pledge 
of the spiritual triumph of the Lord. 

Are the Bread and Wine the Real Body and Blood of 
Christ? The bread and wine are not the real body and 
blood of Christ, and to seek to make them so is a harmful 
superstition. 

Against this error of the Church of Rome all Protestant 
Churches have borne constant testimony, but since the Ox- 
ford Movement in England there has been an unhappy ten- 
dency on the part of the Romeward wing of the Episcopal 
Church to import this superstition into Protestantism. 
There is but one way in which the bread and wine can 
become a part of the body of Christ, and that is not to be 
found in any magical result of the blessing of the priest. 
All Christians are of the body of Christ. Partaking of his 
life they manifest to the world the fellowship of his sacri- 
fice and the hope of the coming of his kingdom. The bread 
which becomes a part of their bodies becomes in them and 
not otherwise a part of the body of Christ. 

How Was the Lord's Supper Regarded by the Early 
Church? The Lord's Supper in the early churches was 
first a common meal shared by all the members of the con- 
gregation. This grew to be an abuse even in the apostles' 
time, so that Paul's letters to the Corinthians show that it 
sometimes became the occasion of gluttony and drunken- 
ness. For this reason the Lord's Supper came to be admin- 
istered in simply a crumb of bread and a drop of wine, 
offering no temptation to the appetite. 

The form in which the Lord's Supper was administered 
in the Church shortly after the death of the Apostles is 
clearly set forth in "The Teaching of the Twelve Apos- 
tles" : 

Now concerning the Thanksgiving [or Eucharist], give ye 
thanks thus: First concerning the cup: We give thanks to thee, 



358 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

our Father, for the holy vine of David thy servant, which thou 
madest known to us through Jesus thy servant; to thee be the 
glory forever. And concerning the broken bread: We give thanks 
to thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou madest 
known to us through Jesus thy servant: to thee be the glory for- 
ever. As this broken bread was scattered abroad over the moun- 
tains, and being gathered together became one, so let thy church 
be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy kingdom: 
for thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. 
But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving [or Eucharist], 
but those baptized into the name of the Lord: for concerning this 
also hath the Lord said: Give not that which is holy to the dogs. 
And after being filled, give ye thanks thus: We give thanks to 
thee, Holy Father, for thy holy name which thou causedst to dwell 
[lit. tabernacle] in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith 
and immortality which thou madest known to us through Jesus, 
thy servant: to thee be the glory forever. Thou, Almighty Master, 
didst create all things for thy name's sake; both food and drink 
didst thou give to men to enjoy, that they might give thanks to 
thee; but to us didst thou grant spiritual food and drink and life 
eternal through thy servant. Before all things we give thanks to 
thee that thou art mighty: to thee be the glory forever. Remem- 
ber, Lord, thy church, to deliver it from every evil, anH to make 
it perfect in thy love; and gather it together from the fodr winds, 
the sanctified church, into thy kingdom which thou didst prepare 
for it: but thine is the power and the glory forever. Let grace 
come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. 
If anyone is holy, let him come; if anyone is not, let him repent: 
Maranatha. Amen. But permit ye the prophets to give thanks as 
much as they will. — Chs. ix and x. 

Who May Administer the Lord's Supper? Under ordi- 
nary circumstances the Lord's Supper is to be administered 
by an ordained minister of the gospel, assisted by the dea- 
cons of the church. Only in exceptional cases should a 
church make use of its liberty and authorize an unordained 
person to administer the Lord's Supper. If a licentiate 
administers the Lord's Supper he does so, not by virtue of 
his licensure, but by vote of a local church. 

When a church has no elders, the members may legitimately 
partake of the Supper. A deacon selected by the brethren may 
preside. — Davidson: Eccl. Polity of N. T., p. 283. 

If any man, even a laic, be appointed by the church to admin- 
ister the sacrament, if he does it, he does nothing but his duty, and 
neither offends against the faith nor against good order. — Fabritius: 
Quoted by Samuel Mather: Apology, p. 61. 

Ordination seems originally intended for guarding against bad 
characters. I have therefore been much concerned to see the prac- 
tice of administering the Lord's Supper obtain prior to it, which 
tends to set it aside, and will, I am persuaded, be the source of 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 359 

many mishaps in the churches. I had long been of the opinion 
that there was no Scripture for confining the administration of 
the Lord's Supper to a minister. ... I could wish that every 
church, when destitute of a pastor, would attend to the Lord's 
Supper among themselves. — Andrew Fuller: Works, ii, 662. 

The Lord's Supper was originally a household rite, as was the 
passover feast among the Jews. It was kept among the early 
Christians with singleness of heart and from house to house. It 
was a beautiful thought that the father of the household should 
gather the family around him, and, in answer to the youngest, 
explain the meaning of the service, and with them celebrate the 
deliverance, whether from the kingdom of Egypt or of evil. By 
and by, it came to be a church ordinance, not by divine appoint- 
ment, but by ecclesiastical arrangement, and came to be less fre- 
quent in its observance. Like all commemorations it hardened 
into a fixed ceremony with conditions carefully superimposed. It 
would be thought almost a sacrilege for a layman to officiate now, 
even in a Congregational church. That very word "officiate" indi- 
cates the change. It is well to protect the table of the Lord so 
that it may not be irreverently or carelessly approached, but the 
difference between what is essential and what is accessory should 
be maintained. Not a minister always or only, but a Christian man 
of faith and prayer might serve it best, and those who are invited 
should be not merely church-members, but those who are con- 
fessing, and loving, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ and living 
as his disciples. — Boynton: Congregational Way, pp. 66-67. 

Minister Dispenses Lord's Supper. The Supper of the Lord is 
to be dispenced by the minister of the Word, 1 unto the faithful 
of the same Body, 2 or commended to them by a like Body, 3 
having examined and judged themselves, 4 and sitting down with 
him at the Lord's Table, 5 before whom the minister taketh the 
Bread, and blesseth* it, breaketh it, and giveth it to the Brethren, 
with this commandment once for all, To take and eat it as the 
body of Christ broken for them, and this to doe in remembrance 
of him. In like manner also he taketh the Cup, and having given 
thanks, he giveth it to them with a commandment to them all, To 
take and drinke it as the blood of Christ shed for them, and this 
also to doe in remembrance of Him, 6 after all having partaken, 
they sing a Psalme. — John Cotton: The Doctrine of the Church, 2d 
ed., London, 1643, p. 7. 

No persons may administer the sacrament but such as are 
ordained thereto. — Savoy Confession. 

And this is agreeable to present, and, so far as I can learn, 
past practice of Congregationalists. How much of the principle 
of apostolical succession and holy unction is countenanced by this 
practice, may be a question. — Cummings: Cong. Diet., Lord's Sup- 
per. 

How Is the Lord's Supper to Be Administered? Con- 
gregationalists are wedded to no one form of administering 
the Lord's Supper. It is generally received by the people 
sitting in their pews. The bread is first blessed and broken 



360 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

by the minister and handed to the deacons, who first pass 
the plate to the minister himself and afterward to the con- 
gregation. When they have returned it, the minister passes 
the bread to the deacons in turn. After this, the minister 
pours out and blesses the wine, of which he first receives 
from one of the deacons, after which the wine is passed to 
each member of the congregation, and then by the minister 
to the deacons. 

The deacons should not take the plates or cups from the 
table or return them to the table, but receive them from 
and return them to the minister. 

The elements should be received reverently by each 
worshiper. It is not considered reverent to take bread or 
wine with gloved hand. 

What Invitation Should Be Given to the Table? Each 
church is competent to determine the form of its own invi- 
tation. It is customary to invite members of all churches 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sometimes the invitation is 
made even more inclusive. No Congregational church at- 
tempts a narrower invitation than this. 

Who Should Be Invited to the Lord's Supper? Much has been 
made of the invitation to the Lord's table. If it is his, we should 
not invite to it. It belongs to those who are of the family of 
Christ. We should welcome those who claim to be entitled to it. 
There is no great danger that the multitude of careless and un- 
spiritual people will intrude upon it, if the service be kept simple 
and its spiritual meaning be kept prominent. The invitation used 
to be "to those who are in good and regular standing in other 
evangelical churches." A form which is very common now, and 
which is better, is, "We welcome to the table of the Lord all those 
who love him and confess him before men." This last clause takes 
it out of the range of sudden impulse, if there would be any great 
harm in that. If it is not our table, we should leave the acceptance 
to the consciences of those present, except perhaps that we should 
reason with one who was leading an immoral life. Even in such 
case his action would open the way to serious conversation and 
might be the beginning or the means of his conversion. — Boynton: 
Congregational Way, p. 68. 

May an Unbaptized Person Partake of the Lord's Sup- 
per? Ordinarily baptism is antecedent to participation in 
the Lord's Supper, but we have no authority in Scripture 
for affirming that invariably it must be so. 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 361 

Baptism. The church was not given to baptism, but baptism 
to the church; if admission to the church be by baptism, then cast- 
ing out of the church must be by unbaptizing. — John Robinson: iii, p. 
167. 

Whether baptism is invariably a prerequisite to admis- 
sion to the Lord's Supper was discussed by early 
Congregationalists, who held in general that baptism should 
ordinarily precede the Lord's Supper, but many of them 
recognized that there may be reasons why a particular 
person should be admitted to communion who has not been 
baptized. 

May Non-Church Members Commune? Ordinarily 
church membership should be regarded as a prerequisite 
to Communion, but there are exceptional cases in which 
this rule should not be rigidly enforced. The invitation 
should be so phrased that it will ordinarily be accepted 
only by church members, but still provision will be made 
for those infrequent but reasonable exceptions which occur 
in the experience of almost every minister. The following 
is a convenient form of invitation : 

"Ministering in the name of the Lord, this church in- 
vites to the table of the Lord all who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity and have publicly confessed Him accord- 
ing to His command." 

Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Answer of the New Eng- 
land Elders to the Nine Positions is: "Church Communion we 
hold only with church members, admitting to the fellowship of the 
seals known and approved and orderly recommended members of 
any true church" (Hanbury, iii, 40). This they maintain by seven 
considerations, among which is this: They that are incapable of 
the censures are incapable of the privileges. Those not in cov- 
enant are incapable of the censures, therefore of the seals as privi- 
leges. Those not members of churches ordinarily ought not to 
come to the Communion, but there are exceptions. — Isaac Watts: 
Terms of Communion, Quest, vi. 

Do Congregationalists Practice Close Communion? 
They do not ; and have never been able to find any authority 
for such practice on the part of any church. 

Open Communion. We have endeavored to show, that the 
practice of strict Communion derives no support from the sup- 



362 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

posed priority of baptism to the Lord's Supper, in the order ol 
the institution, which is exactly the reverse; that it is not coun- 
tenanced by the tenor of the apostles' commission, nor by apos- 
tolic precedent, the spirit of which is in our favor; that the oppo- 
site practice is enforced by the obligations of Christian charity; 
that it is indubitably comprehended in the canon which enjoins 
forbearance towards mistaken brethren; that the system of our 
opponents unchurches every Pedobaptist community; that it rests 
on no general principle; attempts to establish an impossible 
medium; inflicts a punishment which is capricious and unjust; and 
finally, that, by fomenting prejudice and precluding the most 
effectual means of conviction, it defeats its own purpose. — Robert 
Hall: Works, i, 359. 

Suppose you judge concurrence in the use of a liturgy a sin, 
and the unprescribed way a duty, yet who hath empowered you to 
make such sins exclusive from Christian communion? . . . 
Hath God forbidden any to be admitted to Christian communion, 
but such as are absolutely perfect in knowledge and holiness? 
Whose is this table? Is it the table of this or that man, or party 
of men? or is it the Lord's table? Then certainly it ought to be 
free to his guests; and who should dare invite others, or forbid 
these? — John Howe: Works, p. 184. 

The churches of New England make only vital piety the terms 
of Communion among them; and they all, with delight, see godly 
Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Anti-pedobaptists, 
and Lutherans, all members of the same churches, and sitting 
together without offense in the same holy mountain, at the same 
holy table. — Cotton Mather: Ratio Discipline, iv. 

What Kind of Bread Is Used in the Lord's Supper? It 

is not necessary that any one kind of bread should be used 
in the administration of the Lord's Supper. The fact that 
our Lord and his disciples used unleavened bread does not 
necessarily furnish us a rule or example. They used the 
bread which was upon the table at that particular meal. 
The common bread of daily life is a sufficient and wholly 
appropriate symbol for the use of the Lord's Supper. 

What Kind of Wine Is Used in the Lord's Supper? It 
is customary in Congregational churches to use the pure 
unfermented juice of the grape. Fermented wine is not 
commonly employed, and its use is properly to be discour- 
aged. It is not advisable to use water or any other substi- 
tute. Jesus and his disciples drank of the "fruit of the 
vine." 

Whether the wine which Jesus and his disciples used 
was or was not intoxicating is a question in nowise essen- 



THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH 363 

tial to the determining of the character of the wine to be 
used by modern Christians. Even if the wine Jesus used 
contained a small percentage of alcohol, the use of such 
wine in his day related itself quite differently to social cus- 
tom and to public sentiment than the use of wine as a bev- 
erage does in our day. 

How Often Should the Lord's Supper Be Administered? 
There is no general rule concerning the frequency with 
which the Lord's Supper should be administered. Each 
church is competent to make its own rule. It is not advis- 
able to observe it so frequently as to cheapen the custom 
by constant and meaningless repetition. It gains in solem- 
nity by its occasional celebration as opposed to an observ- 
ance every Sunday. Commonly, once in two months is 
considered a sufficiently frequent observance. 

May Special Communion Seasons Be Arranged? Any 
church is competent to arrange for special Communion 
services when occasion seems to make such services appro- 
priate. 

At What Time of the Day Should the Lord's Supper Be 
Administered? The Lord's Supper may be administered at 
any suitable time of the day. There is no virtue in the 
custom which obtains in some denominations of receiving 
the Lord's Supper fasting. Our Lord and his disciples ate 
the Lord's Supper late in the evening, and after the evening 
meal. There is no good reason why his disciples should not 
do the same. While the Lord's Supper is commonly admin- 
istered at a morning service, some churches very profitably 
observe a twilight Communion. 

Do Congregationalists Observe an Easter Communion? 
Many Congregationalists observe an Easter Communion. 
There is a certain felicity in so doing, though it is not 
wholly appropriate that the memorial of the Lord's death 
should be celebrated on the anniversary of his resurrection. 
Many churches observe with profit the Thursday evening 
preceding Easter. 



XXII. SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 

What Is the Law of the Christian Life? The law of the 
Christian life is love to God and man. It is not two laws 
but one. No man can love his neighbor in the highest and 
best sense without love for God ; and no man can truthfully 
say that he loves God while hating his neighbor. The 
Christian life is both personal and social. It is personal, 
because every Christian must decide for himself the choice 
of good or evil. In the last analysis, but one thing is essen- 
tial to the life of the Gospel, and that is the life of God in 
Christ revealed in and through the soul of the believer. 
But we are not born in isolation, nor do we live our lives 
apart. The Spirit of Christ imparted to all who will receive 
it is a social spirit. It is one Spirit, but widely and diversely 
manifested. Through the rich diversity of gifts the one 
Spirit of God incarnate in the life of the followers of Jesus 
makes the Church the Body of Christ. 

What Is Christian Worship? Christian worship is the 
adoration of God, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, performed 
either in public or in private. That acceptable worship may 
be offered in private is attested by the command of Jesus. 
"Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when 
thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in 
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward 
thee openly." Public Christian worship is also a duty and 
a privilege. We are exhorted not to forsake the assembling 
of ourselves together. That which made possible the work 
of the early church was the assembling of its members for 
worship and work. 

The Sacrament of Common Worship. In respect to preaching 
and worship, the Congregational ideal tends to extreme high- 
churchism. It lays a maximum of stress on the supreme sacra- 
ments with a minimum of stress on the mediating ritual. Its 
preaching is ideally a true elevation of the host, and the personality 
of the preacher becomes the chalice of blessing. It is an ideal 
which demands of its preachers not merely a proclamation of the 
Gospel message, but a sacramental communication of the Living 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 365 



Christ. In spite of an excessive disdain of the symbols of priest- 
hood, it exalts the preacher to a height of responsibility to which 
no priest was ever elevated. For whereas the personality of the 
priest is an impertinent matter, if he is duly authorized and or- 
dained, the personality of the preacher is pertinent in the highest 
degree for the conveyance of heavenly blessing. The condition of 
his being a medium of grace is a consecrated personality and not 
official ordination, so that our theory of the ministry is priesthood 
in excelsis. 

Consequently, all worship is an act of "partaking." Every serv- 
ice is essentially of the nature of Holy Communion and no institu- 
tion can exceed in solemn meaning the ordinary diet of worship. 
Therefore the Lord's Supper inevitably loses its uniqueness, while 
the other sacraments fall into very uncertain significance. Here 
Independency has approximated to Quakerism, though more in 
theory than in practice. This again is a principle upon which it can- 
not go back. But it has much to gain from a fuller recognition of 
the suggestive significance of the insignia of sacraments. It loses 
not a little spiritual influence through its neglect of appropriate 
ritual. It tends too much in the direction of the public meeting. 
Congregationalism, which is natively high-church, would increase 
in impressiveness if in this matter it reverted to Catholic tradi- 
tion. — Davis: Congregationalism and Its Ideal, Constructive Quar- 
terly, Sept., 1915. 

What Are the Essential Parts of Public Worship? The 

essential parts of public Christian worship are prayer, the 
reading of Holy Scripture, song, religious instruction, and 
the administration of the sacraments of the church. 

The early Christians had exceedingly simple forms of 
worship. They had no temple, no altar, no image, no ritual 
or priesthood. 

Our earliest testimony outside the New Testament to 
the forms of Christian worship is contained in a letter of 
Pliny, the Younger, while governor of Bithynia, written to 
the Emperor Trajan about 109 A. D. He describes Chris- 
tian worship as he had extorted its details under torture 
from some young women, apparently deaconesses. 

"The Christians," he says, "affirmed that it was their 
custom to meet on a stated day before sunrise, and sing a 
hymn to Christ as to god; that they further bound them- 
selves by an oath" (obviously the baptismal vow) "never 
to commit any crime, but to abstain from robbery, theft, 
adultery, never to break their word, nor to deny a trust 
when summoned to deliver it, after which they would sep- 



366 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

arate and re-assemble for the purpose of eating in common 
a harmless meal" (Ep. 10:96). Justin Martyr, writing 
about A. D. 150, more accurately describes the forms of 
worship prevailing in his day: "On Sunday, all who live 
in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and 
the memoirs of the Apostles or the books of the prophets 
are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader 
has ended, the president in a discourse instructs and exhorts 
to the imitation of these glorious examples. Then we all 
rise together and send upwards our prayers. And when 
we have ceased from prayer, bread and wine and water are 
brought, and the president offers prayers and thanksgivings 
according to his ability. The congregation assent, saying 
Amen; and there is a distribution to each one present of 
the consecrated things, and to those who are absent a por- 
tion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well-to-do 
and willing give what each thinks fit, and the collected gifts 
are deposited with the president, who succors with them 
the widows and orphans, and those who through sickness 
or any other cause are in want, and those who are in bonds, 
and the strangers sojourning among us, in short, all who 
are in need" (Apol. 1:65, 67). Tertullian, writing some- 
where near A. D. 220, describes the worship as follows: 
"Our meal," he writes, "explains itself by its name. It is 
designated by the Greek word for love (Agape). What- 
ever it costs, our outline is gain if we thus benefit the poor. 
This is the honorable occasion of our repast. By this judge 
its further regulations. As it is an act of religious service, 
it permits no violence nor excess. We do not go to the 
table until we have first tasted of prayer to God ; we eat as 
much as satisfies the hungry ; we drink as much as is profit- 
able for the chaste. We satisfy ourselves as those who 
remember that during the night also God is to be wor- 
shiped; we converse as those who know that the Lord 
hears them. After water for the hands and lights are 
brought, each one is called upon to praise God, either from 
the Holy Scriptures or of his own mind ; hence it is proved 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 367 

how much he has drunken. As the feast began, so it is 
closed, with prayer. Thence we separate, not into bands 
for violence, not for roaming the streets, but to take the 
same care of our modesty and chastity as if we had been 
at a place of instruction rather than at a banquet" (Apol. 
100:39). 

What Is the Place of the Reading of the Scripture in 
Public Worship? In the early Church the reading of the 
Scriptures was inherited from the custom in the Jewish 
synagogue. At first the Old Testament only was read, with 
practical exposition and applications. Later the letters of 
the Apostles were added as giving practical advice. As the 
number of Christians increased who had no personal knowl- 
edge of the life of Jesus, readings from the Gospels were 
added. 

The formal reading of Scripture apart from interpreta- 
tion and prayer was not commonly practiced in the early 
Congregational churches. The public reading of a portion 
of Scripture as a separate part of public worship began in 
the First Church of Salem by vote of December 27, 1736, 
and in the Old South Church in Boston on April 24, 1737. 

That there was occasional reading of the Scriptures in 
other churches in Boston is evident, and the Brattle Street 
Church practiced it as early as 1701. Chief Justice Samuel 
Sewall left his own church, the Old South, on Sabbath, 
November 30, partly to hear Rev. Eliphalet Adams, and 
partly as a protest against his own minister, Rev. Josiah 
Willard, who had cut off his hair and was wearing a wig. 
"He that condemns the Law of Nature is not fit to be a 
publisher of the Law of Grace," wrote the judge, as a cen- 
sure of his own pastor; and he recorded in his diary that 
Mr. Coleman read distinctly the 137th and 138th Psalms 
and the seventh of Joshua, concerning the conviction, sen- 
tence and execution of Achan. Mr. Coleman had offered 
prayer before the reading. After the reading they sang the 
second part of the 69th Psalm to Windsor tune. "Then 
Mr. Adams prayed very well, and more largely; and gave 



368 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

very good sermon from Gal. 4: 18. Mr. Adams gave the 
blessing. In the afternoon Mr. Adams made a short prayer, 
read the 139th Psalm and the sixth and twentieth chapters 
of the Acts. Sung. Mr. Coleman made a very good sermon 
from Jer. 31 : 33. Pray'd. Sung. Contribution. Gave the 
blessing. I perceive by several that Mr. Coleman's people 
were much gratified to see me there. Several considerable 
persons expressed themselves so." Thus wrote Judge 
Sewall, less offended by the Brattle Street innovation of 
public scripture reading than by his own minister's wear- 
ing of a "wigg." 

The public reading of the Scriptures had been opposed 
partly because it savored of set form, and partly because 
it was deemed better to have Scripture with exposition than 
without; but the custom spread rapidly, and soon public 
Bible reading was the custom in all the New England 
churches. 

The Beginning of Public Scripture Reading as a Regular Part 
of Church Service in Boston. Lord's Day, April 24, 1737. The 
Brethren of the church stay'd, and Voted. — That the Holy Scrip- 
tures be read in Public after the first Prayer in the morning and 
afternoon; And that it be left to the Pastors; what parts of Scrip- 
ture to Read and what to Expound. — Records of the Old South. 
May 1. We began the Public Reading of the Scriptures. I read 
I chap. Genesis. Mr. Prince read I chap. Matthew. I spake a 
few words by way of Exposition and Exhortation. Then preach'd 
from I Thes. 5:27, "I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be 
read to all the holy brethren." — Rev. Joseph Sewall: quoted in Ham- 
ilton Hill's History of the Old South, Vol. I, p. 480. 

Scripture Reading in Salem. Voted, that the Scriptures be read 
as part of the Public worship. — Records of the First Church at its 
re-organization, Dec. 26, 1736. 

What Is the Office of Prayer in Public Worship? Prayer 
in its various forms of petition, intercession and thanksgiv- 
ing was practiced in the early Church from the beginning. 
It was inherited from Judaism and sanctioned by the custom 
of Jesus and the Apostles. Public prayer has always had a 
prominent place in public worship in Congregational 
churches. 

Public Prayer. Extempore prayer has been the general custom 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 369 

with our ministers, sometimes too unstudied and left too much to 
the impulse of the time. Some of our most thoughtful and con- 
scientious pastors have made a study of liturgical forms, and out of 
their familiarity with them have either lifted their own expression 
to a higher level or occasionally have enriched the service by the 
use of prayers which have come to be the possession of the Church 
Universal. Familiarity with the prayers of the Psalms and other 
Scriptures and with later forms of devotional literature cannot be 
too strongly commended. — Boynton: The Congregational Way, p. 62. 

May Written or Printed Prayers Be Used by Congrega- 
tionalists? Congregationalists recognize the liberty of each 
Christian and each local church to pray in any manner that 
ministers to the spiritual life. The contention of the early 
Puritans was not that prescribed prayers were in themselves 
sinful, but that no civil or ecclesiastical body had power to 
prescribe a form of prayer which must be used. Although 
some of the Puritans went to the extreme of denouncing all 
written or printed prayers, their general contention was not 
that these are unlawful, but that they are unprofitable. 

Any Congregational church is at liberty to make such 
use as it desires of the liturgy which we have inherited in 
the Book of Common Prayer and otherwise. The historical 
attitude of this denomination, however, has been one of 
consistent protest, first against the right of any external 
authority to impose a formal prayer, and secondly, against 
the habitual use of any form in a manner that hampers the 
free spirit of worship. 

Christ Made No Prayer-Book. Christ never provided a prayer- 
book, but a Bible for his people. — Cotton Mather. 

Not a Sin, But Not So Profitable. Every form of prayer pre- 
scribed by men is not absolutely nor simply a sin; yet ... it 
is not so profitable, but rather hurtful, in many cases of it, as mak- 
ing holy zeal and other gifts of the Spirit in many to languish. — 
Confession of Jacob's Church. 

We practice, without condemning others, what all sides do 
allow, public prayers by ministers out of their own gifts. — The 
Apologetical Narrative. 

Worship Must Be Natural. Now, above all, worship must be 
natural. Provided that the form of worship expresses most nat- 
urally the feelings of the congregation, no sensible man will be 
disposed (unless it be unlawful) to put down, though he may de- 
plore, any kind of service, however bold or florid, unattractive or 
sensuous, it may seem to him. It is better that the children of 



370 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

men should speak to their Divine Father, as to their human fathers, 
naturally though wrongly, than rightly but unnaturally. — W. L. 
Clay: Essays on Church Policy, London, 1868. 

Free from Bondage to a "Stinted Liturgy." To conclude, seeing 
our Christian liberty frees us from binding our selves to any 
religious observances, wherunto the written Word doth not bind 
us; and seeing spirituall prudence directs us to chuse those wayes 
which on all hands are confessed to be safe, avoiding those that 
are doubtfull and hazardous, and seeing it will not be safe for us 
needlessly to swerve from the constant practise of all Churches 
that are recorded in the Scriptures, that held forth as a cloud of 
witnesses for us to follow in matters of this nation; we therefore, 
may not, do not, dare not, use that forme of prayer, and stinted 
Liturgie in those Churches; more particularly in that we do not 
use that Forme of Prayer and stinted Liturgie which is in use 
among your selves: this and such other like Reasons have induced 
us thereunto. — Richard Mather: Church-government and Church- 
covenant discussed, London, 1643, p. 57. 

What Is the Use of Singing in the Church? Early 
Christian songs were largely taken from the Psalms, but 
hymns came to be composed very early, and of the making 
of hymn books there is no end. There were many conten- 
tions in the Puritan churches as to whether unconverted 
persons ought to be permitted to join in the singing of 
Christian hymns, and whether hymns other than those 
found in the Bible might be sung. It is the judgment of 
Congregational churches that singing should be joined in 
by the whole congregation and that free use should be made 
of the poetry of the church in all ages. 

Ought Unconverted Persons to Sing in Church Choirs? 
The question whether unconverted persons ought to be em- 
ployed in church choirs is a question not always easy to 
decide. Church singers should be regarded as leaders of 
public worship and on no account should irreverent or un- 
godly people be employed in this sacred work. It need not 
always be maintained, however, that a church singer must 
of necessity be a member of the church. 

What Is the Place of Preaching in Christian Worship? 
In the New Testament churches preaching had a foremost 
place. The sermon was commonly a missionary address, 
exhorting to confession of sin, the new life in Christ and 
steadfastness of conduct in the Christian way. It was by 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 371 

what seemed the foolishness of preaching that the apostles 
expected the conversion of the world to Christ. Preaching 
has always received a special emphasis in the Congrega- 
tional churches. It has been maintained that Christian con- 
gregations needed instruction from the Lord, and also from 
godly and learned men through whose testimony obedience 
and faith are inspired in the hearts of the hearers. 

What Is the Congregational Doctrine of the Sabbath? 
The Congregational churches believe in the Christian Sab- 
bath, commonly called the Lord's Day or Sunday, as a day 
of rest and worship. It is not regarded as a day of bondage, 
but of spiritual privilege. But the law of Christian liberty 
is not license to disregard an institution established of God, 
and justified by human experience. The Sabbath was made 
for man ; and the method of its observance should be such 
as to promote the physical, moral and spiritual well being 
of men. The Church may well expect of its members such 
an observance of the Lord's Day as to strengthen their in- 
fluence for good in the life of the community. 

How Do Congregationalists Regard Prayer Meetings? 
The prayer meeting as an established institution took its 
rise in the notable revivals of the early part of the nine- 
teenth century. As now observed in our churches it is less 
than one hundred years old. It has proved a mighty influ- 
ence for good and its decline cannot be regarded as a hope- 
ful sign in any church. It need not be inferred, however, 
that the prayer meeting must remain unmodified or that it 
must be conducted along precisely the lines that have char- 
acterized its development in the past. Some form of meet- 
ing should be continued in which the voice of the church 
membership is heard and in which there is opportunity for 
conference and prayer. 

The weekly prayer meeting of the church is also its 
ordinary business meeting. Nearly all business in a local 
church can be transacted at any regular prayer meeting, 
though special business should require public notice. The 
proposed call of a pastor or the termination of a pastorate, 



372 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the purchase or sale of real estate, or the appropriation of 
any considerable sum of money, excepting for ordinary re- 
pairs, are obvious exceptions and should not be undertaken 
without previous notice or careful conformity to some estab- 
lished rule of the church. 

How Do Congregationalists Regard the Week of 
Prayer? The Week of Prayer, first proposed by the Evan- 
gelical Alliance in 1859, became a more than national ob- 
servance, and Congregationalists have heartily joined in it. 
In many communities the opening week of the new year 
has proved a profitable period for prayer and mediation ; in 
others it has proved less favorable because of severe 
weather, the pressure of business incident to the closing 
and opening year, and the reaction following the holidays. 

Do Congregationalists Observe Holy Days or Fast 
Days? Congregationalists are at liberty to observe any 
religious festivals that assist their spiritual life. This they 
may do either individually or by congregations, but there 
is no authority that can require any general observance of 
particular religious festivals or fasts among Congregation- 
alists. 

How Do Congregationalists Regard Easter and Christ- 
mas? The early Congregationalists refused to observe 
either Easter or Christmas, counting them purely human 
festivals clearly traceable in origin to the heathen religions. 
These festivals are now generally observed among us, not 
as imposed by external authority, but as offering particu- 
larly favorable opportunities for the celebration of the birth 
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, in common with Chris- 
tians generally. 

How Do Congregationalists Regard Lent? Congrega- 
tionalists regard Lent as a purely human institution, resting 
on no divine command and carrying with it no obligation 
which one Christian individual or church has a right to 
impose upon another. It is regarded, however, as a favor- 
able time for religious emphasis, a time when social life 
somewhat abates and when opportunity is afforded for 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 373 

religious instruction preliminary to Easter and for cate- 
chism classes in preparation for church membership on the 
part of young people. 

What Is the Attitude of the Church Tbward Current 
Reforms? The Church exists for the glory of God and the 
welfare of humanity. Nothing that relates to human well 
being is foreign to its interests. It is the duty of the Church 
to proclaim the Good News to all men, to support the insti- 
tutions of charity and compassion, and to labor for the 
spread of intelligence, justice, temperance, peace, and right- 
eousness in all the earth. 

It is not to be understood, however, that the Church is 
merely a platform for the exploiting of all possible theories 
that come in the name of philanthropy or reform. Those 
men do err, not knowing the Scripture, who assume that 
the chief business of the Church of Christ is to conduct a 
campaign or exploit a theory of sociology. Reformers have 
sometimes been justly impatient at the conservatism of the 
Church, but quite as often have shown unwisdom and lack 
of charity in their harsh judgments of a conservatism not 
wholly unwise or unjustifiable. It is a fair question and 
one that cannot be settled out of hand, how far the church 
as a church ought to enter into questions of legislation and 
political controversies. Errors have been committed in both 
directions, and it is better to avoid too hasty judgments. 
The Church is in the world for the sake of bringing the 
world to Christ, but that result is not always to be attained 
by scheduled program and machinery. Not by saying "Lo, 
here" nor "Lo, there" are we to discover the kingdom of 
Christ; and that kingdom often suffereth violence at the 
hands of its well-intentioned or over-zealous friends, whose 
first love is for some particular philanthropy or reform. 
One needs to read with much care the life of Jesus in his 
relation to the various reforms and evils of his own day. 
The lesson will often teach us greater patience and less 
holy violence. 

What Is the Relation of the Christian Minister to 



374 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Marriage? In the view of early Congregationalists mar- 
riage was not to be regarded as a sacrament, but as a holy 
contract between one man and one woman to live together 
as husband and wife. For this reason it was often held 
that ministers should not solemnize marriages. Not until 
1692 did the Massachusetts laws provide for the solemniza- 
tion of marriages by ministers. But while marriage is not 
a sacrament, it is much more than a civil contract; it is a 
solemn service, and one in which the church and its min- 
istry have a legitimate and helpful share. One of the most 
important of all present-day questions relates itself to the 
greater sanctity of the home. This can be effected only by 
investing marriage with greater solemnity. 

A minister is not legally necessary to the solemnization 
of marriages. These may be performed, in most if not all 
states, by judges, justices of the peace, and others. It is 
not only allowable but eminently desirable that matrimony 
should be regarded as a sacred institution not to be entered 
upon lightly or unadvisedly, but reverently, soberly, dis- 
creetly, and in the fear of God. No other person is so well 
fitted as the pastor to solemnize this holy institution. A 
minister who performs a marriage acts as an officer of the 
court as well as a representative of the Church, and should 
be scrupulously careful to conform to all the laws of the 
state in which the marriage is solemnized. From the court 
he receives the document which evidences his authority, 
and to the court he must make legal certificate. 

Who May Solemnize Marriages? Marriage laws differ 
in the several states, but commonly no minister of the 
gospel is permitted to solemnize a marriage until he has 
been ordained according to the customs of his denomination. 
In a few states a licentiate may solemnize a marriage, but 
Congregational practice is not favorable to this method, and 
in most states a Congregational licentiate attempting to 
perform a marriage will expose himself to fine and perhaps 
imprisonment. 

What Should Be the Minister's Attitude Toward 



SERVICES AND CEREMONIES 375 

Divorce? Christian ministers ought to discourage divorce 
and seek in every reasonable way to maintain the sanctity 
of the home. They should refuse to remarry divorced per- 
sons whose separations have occasioned scandal, or whose 
re-marriage would tend to lessen the sanctity of the mar- 
riage relation. It is not commonly held, however, by Con- 
gregational ministers that no divorced persons should re- 
marry, or that the minister should in every case refuse to 
marry where legal and moral requirements appear to have 
been met. 

In What Form Should Marriage Be Performed? No 

particular form of words is legally necessary to the solemni- 
zation of a marriage. Two persons having a marriage 
license, who stand before a Christian minister and in the 
presence of witnesses take each other as husband and wife, 
become so by any form of words or act wherein they man- 
ifest their intention ; nevertheless it is appropriate that such 
a relation should be entered into with dignified forms of 
service. 

Suitable forms will be found in the author's Congregational 
Manual, pp. 285-292. 

Is a Marriage Valid Performed Without License? A 
marriage performed by a minister without license is legally 
valid, but the minister himself is subject to fine or imprison- 
ment. 

Is a Marriage Valid When Performed as a Joke? No 
marriage ought ever to be performed as a joke, and no 
Christian minister should have any share in so undignified, 
unworthy, and dangerous a farce. Marriages performed as 
a joke have often been decided valid in the eyes of the 
law, and have occasioned great trouble and disgrace to those 
engaged in them. 

Should Ministers Conduct Funerals? Funeral services 
should be conducted by ministers of the gospel. This was 
not the rule of the Puritan fathers. Their reaction against 
the forms of the Established Church led them to protest 



376 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

against all religious services at funerals, but this was an 
unreasonable prohibition. 

The First Independent Church in England say, in their Con- 
fession, art. xxiii: "Concerning making marriage, and burying the 
dead, we believe that they are no actions of a church minister, 
neither are ministers called to any such business; neither is there 
so much as one example of any such practice in the whole Book 
of God, either under the law or under the gospel; without which 
warrant we believe it unlawful, whatsoever any minister doth, at 
any time and place, especially as a part of his ministerial office 
and function." Cotton Mather, in his Ratio Disciplinse, says of 
the New England practice: "In many towns, the ministers make 
agreeable prayers with the people, come together at the house to 
attend the funeral of the dead, and in some they make a short 
speech at the grave: in other places, both these things are wholly 
omitted." — Cummings: Congregational Dictionary. 

May a Layman Conduct a Funeral Service? Where a 
minister cannot be obtained, a layman may conduct a 
funeral service. The captain of a ship, the teacher of a 
mission school, or other reputable and competent person, 
may read the burial service and speak such words of con- 
solation as are appropriate. 

Forms of burial services may be found in the Congregational 
Manual, pp. 293-300. 

Should Funeral Services Be Conducted in the Church 
Building? The church building is the spiritual home of the 
members, and belongs to their use in the solemn experiences 
of life. While it is the house of the living God and He is 
the God of the living and not of the dead, it is fitting that 
it should be available for the spiritual needs of the people. 
Few private houses are constructed so as to be convenient 
places for funerals. The death often occurs under circum- 
stances which involve great inconvenience if the funeral 
service is to be held there. If the church auditorium is too 
large, the church vestry or lecture room may suitably be 
used and should be freely offered to all who need it. The 
church should rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with 
those who weep. 



XXIII. THE AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL 

CREEDS 

Is There a Congregational Creed? There is no creed 
which Congregational churches are bound to accept, but 
there are creeds which Congregationalists receive as con- 
taining the substance of doctrine generally accepted among 
us. These written symbols are of value, each as recording 
a high water mark of Christian opinion of the age in which 
it was written. Congregationalists claim their full heritage 
in the common creeds of Christendom. All these are ours. 
The early fathers, the great leaders of the Reformation, and 
the saints and scholars of the past are part of our priceless 
heritage. All of them expressed, each in the language of 
his own time, great common truths of the Christian faith. 
Congregationalists receive these creeds and later creeds 
with respect; but no one of these, either ancient or modern, 
stands in such authoritative relation to our Congregational 
system that it can be imposed upon the conscience of any 
Congregational church or any Congregational worshiper. 

Platforms and Confessions. We hold it not unlawful to have a 
platform; . . . yet we see no ground to impose such a platform 
on churches, but leave them their liberty therein (Welde: Answer 
to Rathband, in Han. ii, 296). Rathband wonders "how the New 
England churches fell into so exact a discipline without a plat- 
form!" Welde informs him, that it was "because they had their 
discipline from the Scriptures," the best and the most consistent 
directory in the world. — Cummings: Art. Platforms. 

Platforms and confessions were never set up as standards 
. . . they are lights, which all are free to use or not as they 
please. — Mitchell: Guide, lvi. 

Samuel Mather, alone of all the Old Congregational authors 
to my knowledge, maintains that the Platform is "a holy pact or 
covenant," renewed and transmitted by the successive councils, 
synods, and right hands of fellowship, performed by virtue of it; 
as though these things could not be done, according to the Scrip- 
tures, agreeably to the Platform, without receiving the whole Plat- 
form as a code of ecclesiastical laws. His reasoning is the more 
remarkable, considering his rigid Congregationalism and lucid 
demonstrations of many principles totally subversive of this. His 
great-grandfather, who drafted the Cambridge Platform, held sen- 
timents exactly the reverse of these. — Cummings: Cong. Diet., Plat- 
form. 



378 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

The freedom of the early Congregational churches from 
credal tests for membership is strikingly illustrated in the 
fact that some of them that were lost to the denomination 
in the Unitarian movement have never changed their cov- 
enant from that of their Puritan establishment, and could 
easily become orthodox churches again with no further 
change of covenant. A committee appointed at the annual 
meeting of the American Unitarian Association in 1900 to 
inquire as to covenants in use in Unitarian churches found 
that in a very large proportion the covenant, with a mem- 
bership distinct from that of the parish or congregation, had 
lapsed; but said: 

A new conception of church membership, in our branch of the 
Congregational Church at least, has been adopted. To those who 
are acquainted with the evolution of New England Congregation- 
alism, it will not be called a new conception, but, on the contrary, 
a return to that plain and simple and absolutely unaffected religious 
attitude which characterized the first churches established on these 
coasts. It is a curious and important fact that, during the first 
century of Puritanism in New England, there was practically 
nothing in the way of a creed which the churches imposed upon 
the individual by any ecclesiastical authority. The First covenant 
was so perfectly free from all cant and dogmatism that one might 
imagine it to be the bond of fellowship of one of our latest Uni- 
tarian movements. It says: 

"We covenant with the Lord, and one with another; and do 
bind ourselves, in the presence of God, to walk together in all his 
ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his 
Blessed word of Truth." — p. 23. 

How Are Creeds to Be Interpreted? In general, a creed 
is to be interpreted according to the plain and reasonable 
understanding of its words used in their ordinary sense, but 
this statement must be qualified in two important partic- 
ulars. First — Theology, as truly as any other science, must 
make use of technical phrases, and words used in Christian 
creeds must be employed with the full breadth of interpre- 
tation which applies to those same terms in theological dis- 
cussion. Second — Every creed must be interpreted in the 
light of what its words meant to those who used them, 
and also in the light of what is now seen to be the logical 
import of their .neaning in the progress of Christian truth. 

Henry Ward Beecher illustrated this principle in his 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 379 

reply to the question, "Are you a Calvinist?" He replied, 
"Yes," and then added, "I believe what Calvin would have 
believed if he were now living." Only with such liberty of 
interpretation can any creed which originates in one gen- 
eration be offered for acceptance by another. 

Should Creeds Be Used as Tests? Creeds should not be 
used as tests of fitness for church membership. They may 
be used, however, as tentative standards by which to judge 
of the soundness of a teacher, or a minister, but never in 
such use is it to be implied that any creed represents or 
ever can represent a finality in Congregationalism. 

Creed Tests. Confessions, when made by a company of pro- 
fessors of Christianity, jointly meeting to that end, the most gen- 
uine and natural use of such confessions is, that, under the form of 
words, they express the substance of the same common salvation. 
. . . And, accordingly, such a transaction is to be looked upon 
but as a meet or fit medium whereby to express that their common 
faith and salvation, and in no way to be made use of as an impo- 
sition upon any. Whatever is of force or constraint, in matters 
of this nature, causeth them to degenerate from the name and 
nature of confessions, and turns them from being confessions of 
faith into impositions and exactions of faith; . . . there being 
nothing that tends more to heighten dissentions among brethren 
than to determine and adopt the matter of their difference under 
so high a title as to be an article of our faith. — Preface to Savoy 
Confession. 

Churches have a right to say on what conditions others, either 
individuals or bodies of men, shall share their fellowship. They 
can enter into fellowship with others with whose principles they 
more nearly agree. — Upham: Ratio Discipline, p. 57. 

This reasoning seems to hold only on the supposition that 
churches are strictly voluntary, in distinction from divinely insti- 
tuted, bodies. If churches are of divine institution, then all true 
Christians have a right to share in them all the privileges of the 
sons of God. It is their Father's table and their Father's church; 
and what right have their brethren to debar them? — Cumtnings: 
Cong. Diet., "Confessions of Faith; Their Use and Abuse." 

Freedom in Organization. And so a people may erect and 
establish what forme of Government seems to them most meete 
for their civill condition . . . and so undeniably it follows that 
a people as a people naturally considered (of what nature and 
nation soever in Europe, Asia, Africa or America) have funda- 
mentally and originally, as men, a power to govern the Church, 
to see her doe her duty, to correct her, to redresse, reform, estab- 
lish, etc.— Roger Williams: The Bloudy Tenet, p. 137. 

The Puritans and Their Neighbors. Neither is it true that we 
suffer no man of any different Conscience or worship to live in our 
Jurisdiction. For not to speake of Presbyterians, who doe not 



380 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

only live among us but exercise their publick Ministry without 
disturbance, there be Anabaptists, and Antinomians tolerated to 
live not only in our jurisdiction, but even in some of our churches. 
— John Cotton: The Bloudy Tenet Washed, p. 169. 

Liberty of Conscience. But we readily grant you, libertie of 
conscience is to be granted to men that fear God indeed, as know- 
ing they will not persist in heresie, or turbulent schisme, when 
they are convinced in conscience of the sinfulness thereof. 

But the question is whether an Herotique after once or twice 
admonished (and so after conviction) or any other scandalous or 
heinous offender, may be tolerated either in the church without 
excommunication, or in the commonwealth, without such punish- 
ment as may preserve others, from dangerous and damnable infec- 
tion. This much I thought needful to be spoken. — John Cotton: The 
Controversie Concerning Liberty of Conscience in Matters of 
Religion, 1646, p. 14. 

May a Minister Be Expelled for Heresy? Heresy trials 
among us are happily rare. We stand historically for 
freedom of thought and utterance. A pastor is expected to 
accept for substance of doctrine the creed of the church of 
which he is pastor, and to teach no views in essential dis- 
regard of that creed. But a creed is the opinion of men, 
usually dead, and at every point in a minister's life he is at 
liberty to ask that his own opinions, as those of a living 
man, be weighed in an even balance with the opinions of 
dead men expressed in creeds. He has as good a right to 
make a creed as any dead man had while living, and more 
right to ask for its consideration in the present than any 
dead man has to insist that his creed shall continue to rule 
the opinions of men who are now as much alive as he was 
when he wrote his creed. But unless the minister can con- 
vince his church that its creed is wrong, he must either con- 
form his teaching to the creed which the living members 
insist upon maintaining as the creed of the church, or he 
must go elsewhere. He cannot be driven out for a minor 
difference of opinion ; there must be an essential and harm- 
ful departure from fundamental Christian faith. 

In theory Congregational churches require of their min- 
isters only such statements of faith as they require of other 
members. But practically a minister must be expected to 
possess a larger faith than the church requires of its hum- 
bler members. 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 381 

A Minister's Faith. It has been contended that the only quali- 
fication for church membership is personal faith in Christ; but 
this is not the only qualification for church office. To decline to 
admit a man into the church on the ground of erroneous opinions 
which are not inconsistent with Christian Faith would be a viola- 
tion of the laws of Christ and of the obligations of Christian 
brotherhood; but in appointing a minister the church is bound to 
consider not only whether his personal faith in Christ is sincere, 
but whether, in its judgment, he is a competent teacher of Chris- 
tian truth. It has to rely on him for a larger knowledge of the 
Christian revelation and for the expression and discipline of its 
devotional life; if he holds any grave errors, if he has an imperfect 
apprehension of any of the great facts of the Christian Gospel, he 
cannot render them this service. 

If, after the election of a minister, it is discovered that his 
religious faith differs widely from the religious faith of the church, 
if on doctrinal questions of serious weight the church believes 
that he is in serious error, the church has authority to deposehim. 
His deposition for such a cause is no encroachment on the rights 
of conscience. 

The church has its rights as well as the minister. The minister 
exists for the church, not the church for the minister. It cannot 
be seriously maintained that the principles of religious freedom 
require that a Christian congregation should be compelled to listen 
to preaching which it believes to be out of harmony with the 
teaching of Christ and pernicious to its own religious life; or that 
it is bound to provide for the support of the preacher. This would 
be to bind the church in chains under the pretence of giving 
freedom to the minister. The claims of freedom are satisfied if a 
minister is at liberty to preach to whatever congregation is willing 
to receive his ministry. 

When the question is seriously raised whether a minister is 
faithful to the revelation of God in Christ, the church should be 
careful to distinguish between the substance of the revelation and 
the theological forms in which it may be expressed; between the 
supreme facts of the Christian Gospel and truths of a secondary 
order. The same truths rarely receive the same intellectual expres- 
sion in two successive centuries, and a man may have a deep and 
earnest faith in the central elements of the Gospel of Christ who 
is unable to give assent to them in the terms to which his church 
has been accustomed. He means what the church means, but he 
cannot help saying it in a different way. It is possible that such a 
divergence of language and forms of thought may be inconsistent 
with his religious usefulness as pastor of that particular church; 
but it is also possible that, if the church is patient and trustful, it 
will discover that the intellectual method of the minister is better 
than its own, and that the new terms in which the great Christian 
truths are stated are more exact than the old. 

When what are regarded as the doctrinal errors of a minister 
do not relate to the central truths of the Christian Faith, there is 
still stronger reason for patience and trust, if the church is sure 
that his grasp of the central truths themselves is vigorous and firm, 
and if it is conscious of receiving spiritual benefit from his min- 
istry. It may be that he is right and the church wrong. He has 



382 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

come to be its teacher, and it should assume that it has many- 
things to learn. Or it may be that in time the minister himself 
will approximate more nearly to the common beliefs of the church. 
Absolute identity of theological opinion between a minister and 
his church is impossible in a period of theological transition like 
our own. But a church is disloyal to Christ if it endures a min- 
istry which is unfaithful to the substance of the Christian Gospel. — 
Dale: Handbook, pp. 187-190. 

Christian Liberty. II. God alone is Lord of the conscience, 
and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of 
men, which are in any thing contrary to his word, or not contained 
in it; so that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands 
out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience, and the 
requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, 
is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also. 

III. They who upon pretence of Christian liberty do practise 
any sin, or cherish any lust, as they do thereby pervert the main 
design of the grace of the gospel to their own destruction, so they 
wholly destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being 
delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the 
Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the 
days of our life. — Boston Confession of 1680, xxi, 2, 3. 

What Are the Ethics of Creed Subscription? Congre- 
gationalists have comparatively little experience in creed 
interpretation. They are little given to the habit of reciting 
old creeds, and when they make new ones they regard them 
as instruments whose period of service is dependent on the 
extent of their serviceability. They know that the Apostles' 
Creed did not originate with the apostles, nor the Nicene 
Creed in the Council of Nice, nor the Athanasian Creed 
with Athanasius, and they hold these creeds in respect be- 
cause of their antiquity, their spiritual earnestness and the 
faith which, incompletely and faultily, they embody. Con- 
gregationalists do not stand in any awe of these symbols 
on account either of their pseudo titles or the ill-merited 
infallibility with which some men living in modern times, 
but thinking in ancient terms, have ascribed to them. When 
we want a creed we make one, or pick up almost any creed 
that we find at hand ; use it so long as it rings true to our 
thinking, and then get another or go without. We can live 
without creeds, and be little the worse, and possibly the 
better for it. 

The people of other communions who continue to recite 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 383 

the creeds of other days and yet hold to the faith of the 
age in which they live have learned an art of interpretation 
almost unknown to us. They make the ancient form a 
vehicle for the expression of their modern thought and feel- 
ing. 

For instance, their creed says, "I believe in the resurrec- 
tion of the body," and these men believe that the spiritual 
body may not be chemically identical with the material 
body at the precise moment of death, even as that body is 
chemically wholly different from the same body seven years 
before. So they ask themselves, "What did the ancients 
mean by the resurrection of the body?" And they answer, 
"The preservation of identity of personality." 

Now, their men believe in the preservation of identity of 
personality, and know what the ancients did not know, that 
personality can survive complete physical change. Hence, 
they continue to recite, "I believe in the resurrection of 
the body," and leave the mystery to God. 

We Congregationalists have not accustomed ourselves 
to quite such mental agility as these interpretations require. 
We have no occasion to sit in judgment on other denom- 
inations in which this careful credal analysis has become 
a fine art, and an almost necessary one. But we do need to 
remember that if we are to use ancient creeds at all we 
must reserve to ourselves all the liberty which our Congre- 
gational fathers reserved to themselves and to us, in such 
flexible phrases "for substance of doctrine." 

That is an elastic phrase, and was intended so to be. 
Only by reason of its elasticity would our fathers consent 
to use creeds at all. It is not the form, but the faith which 
is vital in any creed. It is not the outward sound, but the 
inward substance, of faith which makes a creed other than 
an intolerable fetter. 

We Congregationalists do not seek to encumber our 
children with a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were 
able to bear, but stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
hath made us free. The creeds are a testimony, not a test, 



384 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

and we subscribe to them for the substance of their doc- 
trine. 

What Creeds Have Grown Out of Congregationalism? 
The early Congregational churches generally accepted the 
Savoy Confession, using it, however, with considerable lati- 
tude. The first notable attempt on this continent to formu- 
late a confession for use in the Congregational churches 
was the Cambridge Platform of 1648. This was a confes- 
sion both of faith and polity. The first Confession of Faith 
that received any general acceptance among Congregation- 
alists in the latter half of the nineteenth century was the 
Burial Hill Declaration of Faith, presented to the Boston 
National Council of 1865 on the occasion of its visit to 
Plymouth. This was accepted as a fitting presentation of 
the sentiments of the time and place and of the broad prin- 
ciples of the Congregational denomination. It was consid- 
ered too rhetorical, however, for use as a Confession of 
Faith and its reference to ancient creeds was both too indefi- 
nite and too sweeping to meet with universal approval. 

The National Council of 1880 appointed a committee of 
seven to select twenty-five commissioners, representing 
different shades of thought and different sections of the 
country, to prepare a Confession of Faith. This Commis- 
sion was instructed to report not to the Council but direct 
to the churches, their report "to carry such weight of 
authority as the character of the Commission and the in- 
trinsic merit of their expositions of truth may command." 

The result of their deliberations was published Decem- 
ber 19, 1883, twenty-two out of twenty-five of the commis- 
sioners signing the report. The creed of 1883 proved very 
useful as a declaration of the things most surely believed 
among us. 

The full text of these and other notable confessions of faith 
may be found in "Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism," 
by Professor Williston Walker, D. D. 

Objections having been made in many quarters to the 
Creed of 1883, a more simple creed appeared to be desirable. 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 385 

A brief Confession of Faith came into existence in an un- 
looked-for way. At a time when it was proposed to effect 
organic union between Congregationalists, Methodist Prot- 
estants, and the United Brethren, the representatives of 
those denominations met in Dayton, Ohio, and on Febru- 
ary 9, 1906, adopted a simple Confession of Faith. This 
Confession met with favor in many quarters and has been 
adopted by a number of churches. 

The Commission of Nineteen on Polity, which reported 
to the National Council at Kansas City in 1913, placed in 
the preamble of the Constitution of the National Council a 
brief confession of faith of less than two hundred words 
which has found favor in different quarters, and may pos- 
sibly be used somewhat more widely than for the specific 
purpose for which it was written. 

As modified in its opening and closing sentences for use in a 
local church, it is found in the Congregational Manual, pp. 229-230. 

Does the Preamble Agree with the Creed? It has been 
charged that there exists an inconsistency between the pre- 
amble of the creed of the National Council and the creed 
itself. The creed is modern in its phraseology and forms of 
thought, while the preamble declares the loyalty of the 
council and of the churches composing it to the faith which 
from age to age has been expressed in other creeds. 

There is no inconsistency here, nor any juggling with 
words. The faith which is confessed is the faith which the 
creeds have contained ; the Council did not confess its own 
faith in terms of those creeds. The creeds have been good, 
bad and indifferent, and there is not one of them by which 
either the National Council or the churches would consent 
to be bound. From the so-called Apostles' Creed, which 
the apostles did not make, and the so-called Nicene Creed, 
which the Nicene Council did not make, and the so-called 
Athanasian Creed, which Athanasius did not make, down 
through all the centuries, creeds have been adopted or have 
come into use without adoption, bearing in their phrase- 



386 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ology the unmistakable evidence of human judgment, 
human devotion and human error. There never yet has 
been a creed that was good enough for its own age; much 
less has there ever been one that was adequate to express 
the faith of a subsequent age. 

But as there is a Law which is greater than the sum of 
all particular laws, and which would remain, not indeed 
unimpaired, but still incontestably valid, if all statutes and 
particular enactments were repealed one by one till none 
remained, so there is a credal faith that is greater than any 
particular creed, or than all creeds together. If all creeds 
were to pass away that faith might suffer through the impli- 
cations of their repeal or neglect, but the faith which was 
before the creeds would not of necessity die with the creeds, 
though something of it is expressed in every creed. 

This is the faith confessed in the preamble of the Con- 
stitution of the National Council. It binds neither the 
Council nor any of the churches to the ipsissima verba of 
any creed; but it declares that through all the Christian 
ages there has existed a vital faith which heroes and mar- 
tyrs have spoken out, and have spoken unitedly in terms of 
the creeds of their own generation. 

To that faith the National Council and the churches 
profess allegiance. But as for the creeds in which that faith 
was expressed, they have so much weight and force as there 
is weight and force in the reason of them. 

This is an entirely consistent attitude toward the faith 
of the present, the past and the future. Not only so, but 
it is the historic Congregational attitude toward that funda- 
mental faith which expresses itself through creeds and out- 
lasts all creeds. They do err, not knowing the history of 
the Congregational churches, nor the spirit of the Congre- 
gational movement, who see an inconsistency between the 
adoption of a new creed and a confession of steadfast loy- 
alty to the faith which from age to age has expressed itself 
in other creeds. 

However well a small company of men may intend who 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 387 

would lay hold on the language of the preamble to bind 
the faith of the present to the obsolete forms of expression 
in the creeds of the past, their contention is thoroughly 
illogical, and is opposed to the whole genius of Congrega- 
tionalism. 

All creeds are ours, the Creed of 1883, the Burial Hill 
Confession, the Confessions of 1648 and 1680, the Nicene 
Creed, the Apostles' Creed, and Paul, and Cephas, and 
Apollos, and life and death, and things present and things 
to come. 

Nor does any church exceed its rights in adopting the 
Kansas City Creed without the preamble. If every church 
in America but one were to adopt the new creed and pre- 
amble together, and that one remaining church should pre- 
fer to adopt the same confession without the preamble, it 
would have an entire right to do so, and there is no power 
on earth, civil or ecclesiastical, that would have the right 
to call it to account or charge it with having exceeded its 
rights or departed from the Congregational faith. 

The National Council saw fit to express its faith in a 
new and brief confession, and at the same time to declare 
that the faith it was now confessing was the essential faith 
which had been variously expressed in former ages. The 
confession and the preamble are consistent, and for the 
purpose of their adoption by the National Council are desir- 
able. The suggestion that no church has a right to adopt 
the one without the other is preposterous. The fathers 
whose faith some men misguidedly seek to honor through 
such an enchainment of the living to the dead would rise 
from their graves and rebuke us. It was their solemn 
charge to us to go forward as they went forward, being 
persuaded that God had yet very much light and truth to 
break from his Word. 

The position of the National Council with reference 
to its own recent declaration of faith, and at the same time 
to historic creeds, is not changed in any essential particular 
from the attitude which it took toward creeds in the be- 



388 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ginning. Although the official call of the first National 
Council at Oberlin contained a specific provision that the 
Burial Hill Confession should be the doctrinal basis of the 
Council, the Council itself deleted that provision from the 
proposed draft of its constitution. As to the extent to which 
the Council committed itself to declarations ''sufficiently set 
forth by former General Councils," the statement of Dr. 
Quint, which also represented the view of the Moderator, 
Dr. Buddington, may be regarded as decisive. There were 
those who affirmed that by this statement the old confes- 
sions were repudiated, inasmuch as the Council had definite- 
ly refused to accept the Plymouth Declaration, with its ref- 
erence to the Confessions of 1648 and 1680. There were 
others who said that both these and all other creeds had 
been reaffirmed at Oberlin. Dr. Quint in an able article in 
The Congregational Quarterly for January, 1872, refuted 
both these extreme and untenable views. He said: 

It implies a reaffirmation of what has been "set forth by former 
General Councils" so far as they declare the common evangelical 
doctrines. It is really a declaration of adherence to the historic 
faith of the Church of Christ as being a sufficient basis of denomi- 
national unity. This does not alter the faith of any church. Every 
one will hold the evangelical doctrines to its own preferred cast. It 
does not mean a compromise, which is to omit everything to which 
any individual Christian objects. Variations from the well known 
common faith of the Christian church are left to their own ad- 
herents. This is a broad catholic basis. We do not bind our- 
selves by any provincial creeds or teachers. Instead of throwing 
away the substance of any confession, we really recognize the es- 
sential faith of the Christian Church which is in all confessions. — 
Congregational Quarterly, Vol. XIV., pp. 70, 71. 

Dr. Quint further affirmed that what the Council was 
undertaking to do was not to provide "an exhaustive state- 
ment," but to define "a basis of union." 

This is precisely what the Council did at Kansas City. 
It incorporated into its Constitution a brief yet sufficient 
statement of the great central truths which the Congrega- 
tional churches assume as the basis of their organization in 
National Council; and furthermore, the Council declared 
that the faith which this short creed reiterates has been de- 
clared "from age to age" throughout the history of the 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 389 

Christian Church. The two affirmatives are thoroughly- 
consistent. They declare the steadfast allegiance of our 
churches to that essential faith which is in all creeds, but 
neither in 1871 nor in 1913 did the Council bind itself to 
any ancient creed. We stand fast in the liberty where- 
with Christ hath made us free. 

Is a Creed Essential to a Congregational Church? A 
creed is not essential to a Congregational church. When a 
creed exists, it should be interpreted with very great liber- 
ality as indicating in the most general terms the spirit in 
which the members of that church interpret the Word of 
God, but that Word itself illumined by the Holy Spirit in 
the hearts of the members is the final authority. A creed 
may be very useful as a" testimony, but not as a test. 

Congregational Creeds. It is customary for a Congregational 
church to adopt a creed, as an expression of the beliefs in which 
its members agree and as the basis of their common life. They 
may adopt some form of sound words prepared by others, or they 
may phrase a creed for themselves. There is no Congregational 
creed prepared or adopted by a general council which all churches 
in the fellowship must adopt. In the early days that generally 
assented to was the Westminster Confession as modified in the 
Savoy Confession (1658, adopted at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
1680), containing what seemed to be a comprehensive and fitting 
expression of their faith. Few Congregational churches, if any, 
retain that ancient symbol, and fewer still would be willing to 
adopt it now. It is properly regarded as an ancient battle-flag, 
under which, in their day, the fathers lived and fought valiantly, 
and which the sons should reverently place among the trophies of 
the past. It is the flag to which we should most of us have rallied 
in its time. It does not represent the issues of today. The Burial 
Hill Declaration of Faith was adopted by the National Council in 
1865, and is to be regarded as an expression of the belief of those 
who constituted the noble body of men who listened to it in its 
final form on ground made sacred by the early Pilgrims, and of 
such churches as have adopted it as their own. The Council of 
1883 appointed a large commission of leading men of the denom- 
ination to formulate and issue a statement of doctrine on which 
they could agree; but the Council and its successors were careful 
not to give it the sanction of a vote, only in advance authorizing 
the committee to present in print to the churches the result of their 
deliberation when it should be reached. — Boynton: Congregational 
Way, pp. 52, 53. 

Early Confessions and Creeds. (1) In the year 1596 there 
appeared a small quarto, of twenty-two pages, entitled "A True 
Confession of the Faith and Humble Acknowledgment of the 
Allegiance which we Her Majesty's Subjects, falsely called Brown- 



390 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ists, do hold towards God, and yield to Her Majesty and all other 
that are over us in the Lord. Set down in Articles or Positions 
for the better and more easy understanding of those that shall 
read it: And published for the clearing of ourselves from those 
unchristian slanders of heresy, schism, pride, obstinacy, disloyalty, 
sedition, etc., which by our adversaries are in all places given out 
against us," etc. 

Four years before this Confession was issued, a Congregational 
church in London which had for some time been meeting for wor- 
ship and fellowship completed its organisation by electing a pastor, 
teacher, elders, and deacons. The fierce persecution of the Sepa- 
ratists in England soon drove a large part of the church to Amster- 
dam; the pastor, Francis Johnson, was imprisoned in the Clink. 
The exiles in Holland and their brethren whom they had left in 
London thought it necessary to issue a formal Declaration of their 
doctrinal faith and of their principles in relation to church govern- 
ment. It was a Confession of Faith issued in self-defence to repel 
slander and to correct misapprehension. 

(2) On September the 29th, 1658, rather more than three 
weeks after the death of Cromwell, about two hundred delegates 
from 120 Congregational churches met in London and appointed 
Goodwin, Owen, Nye, Bridge, Caryl, and Greenhill a committee 
to draw up a set of Articles defining the doctrinal faith of the 
English Congregational churches and their principles of church 
polity. The result of their deliberations is given in "A Declaration 
of the Faith and Order owned and practised in the Congregational 
Churches in England: Agreed upon and consented unto by their 
Elders and Messengers in their iieeting at the Savoy, October the 
12th, 1658." 

This, too, was a Confession, not a Creed. Congregationalists 
of that age were clear in their judgment that the imposition of a 
Creed as a condition of communion is illegitimate; they were 
equally clear that Christian men and Christian churches are at 
liberty to declare their own Faith. 

The following extract from the Preface to the "Declaration" 
will indicate their position on these questions: 

"Confessions when made by a company of professors of Chris- 
tianity jointly meeting to that end — the most genuine and natural 
use of such is, that under the same form of words they express 
the substance of the same common salvation, or unity of their 
Faith, whereby speaking the same things they show themselves 
'perfectly joined in the same mind and in the same judgment.' And 
accordingly such a transaction is to be looked upon but as a meet 
or fit medium or means whereby to express their common 'Faith 
and Salvation'; and no way to be made use of^ as an imposition 
upon any. Whatever is of force or constraint in matters of this 
nature causeth them to degenerate from the name and nature of 
Confessions; and turns them, from being Confessions of Faith, into 
exactions and impositions of Faith." — Dale: Handbook, pp. 183-184. 

Is Rejection of the Creed a Ground for Expulsion? No 
church has a moral right to exclude a member on account 
of his having come to doubt some article in its creed. If 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 391 

he accepts Jesus as Saviour and Lord and is living a faith- 
ful life, he belongs in the membership of the church, and no 
church has a right to call anything unclean that God has 
cleansed. 

Doctrinal Errors Not Ground for Expulsion. It is equally in- 
consistent with Congregational principles for a particular church 
to make the rejection of any theological definitions contained in a 
creed the ground for removing a member from Communion. 

Doctrinal errors not inconsistent with a genuine faith in Christ 
may be long retained by men who have received remission of sins 
and the gift of eternal life; large provinces of glorious truth may 
remain unknown to them; but error and ignorance which do not 
separate a man from Christ should not separate him from the 
church. — Dale: Cong. Manual, p. 187. 

Independence of Opinion. It is interesting to observe that 
these Christian men, who established these churches, were so abso- 
lutely free to approach God as they chose that they declined the 
difficult business of defining their faith. • John Winthrop and 
Thomas Dudley could not have agreed on any theological platform 
any more than John Bright and Pius IX could have agreed. And, 
if any effort were made in those years to draw up any statement 
of Christian doctrine by any one of the ten or twelve churches of 
Massachusetts, it left no record behind it. Wholly conscious of 
such independence of opinion in the individual, these separate 
congregations organized themselves by making "covenants," which 
are wholly different from creeds. — Edward Everett Hale: Unitarian- 
ism and Original Congregationalism, p. 4. 

The Woburn Covenant. We that do assemble ourselves this 
day before God and his people, in an unfeigned desire to be ac- 
cepted of him as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to 
the rule of the New Testament, do acknowledge our selves to be 
the most unworthy of all others, that we should attain such a 
high grace, and the most unable of our selves to the performance 
of any thing that is good, abhorring our selves for all our former 
defilements in the worship of God, and other wayes, and resting 
only upon the Lord Jesus Christ for attonement, and upon the 
power of his grace for the guidance of our whole after course; do 
here in the name of Christ Jesus, as in the presence of the Lord, 
from the bottom of our hearts agree together through his grace 
to give up our selves, first unto the Lord Jesus as our only King, 
Priest and Prophet, wholly to be subject unto him in all things, and 
therewith one unto another, as in a Church-Body to walk together 
in all the Ordinances of the Gospel, and in all such mutual love 
and offices thereof, as toward one another in the Lord; and all 
this, both according to the present light that the Lord hath given 
us, as also according to all further light, which he shall be pleased 
at any time to reach out unto us out of the Word by the goodness 
of his grace, renouncing also in the same Covenant all errors and 
Schisms, and whatsoever by-wayes that are contrary to the blessed 
rules revealed in the Gospel, and in particular the inordinate love 



392 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

and seeking after the things of the world. — Johnson: Wonder-Work- 
ing Providence, p. 216. 

What Is the Nature of a Church Covenant? The cov- 
enant is that agreement which constitutes the church. The 
church at Scrooby was organized by a covenant. We are 
told in Bradford's history how its members "shook off the 
anti-Christian yoke of bondage and as the Lord's free people 
joined themselves into a church estate by a covenant of 
the Lord, to walk in all his ways, made or to be made 
known unto them according to their best endeavors, the 
Lord assisting them." 

A Congregational church may or may not have a creed. 
The early churches did not have creeds, but all such 
churches had covenants. 

Covenant Constitutes the Church. Now that a company becomes 
a Church, by joyning in Covenant, may be made good sundry 
wayes; first, By plaine Texts of Scripture; as from Deut. 29: 1, 10, 
11, 12, 13. "Yee stand this day all you before the Lord your God, 
your Captaines of your Tribes, your Elders, your Officers, with 
all men of Israel, ver. 10. That thou shouldest enter into covenant 
with the Lord thy God, ver 12, and he may establish thee for a 
people unto himselfe, ver 13." So that here is plainly shewed, that 
here was a company, ver 10, and this company were to be estab- 
lished to be a people unto the Lord, that is to say, a Church, ver. 
13. And this is done by the peoples entring into solemne Covenant 
with God, ver. 12, and therefore a company of people doe become 
a Church by entring into Covenant with God. — John Davenport: 
Church Government, London, 1643. 

Covenants. The Pilgrim Covenant, formed at Scrooby in 1602, 
declares that these people, "as ye Lord's free people, joyned them- 
selves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in ye 
fellowship of ye gospell, to walk in all his wayes, made known or 
to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, 
whatsoever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them." 

The Covenant of the First Church in Salem, adopted in 1629, 
reads, "We covenant with the Lord and with one another, and 
do bind ourselves in the presence of God to walk together in all 
His ways, according as He is pleased to reveal Himself unto us 
in His Blessed Word of Truth." 

The Covenant of the First Church in Boston, established in 
1630, is as follows: "We, whose names are hereunder written, 
. . . do hereby solemnly and religiously (as in his most holy 
presence) promise and bind ourselves to walk in all our ways 
according to the rule of the gospel and in all sincere conformity 
to his holy ordinances, and in mutual love and respect each to 
other, so near as God shall give us grace." 

These covenants are still retained by these three churches. 



AUTHORITY OF CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS 393 

though these churches, together with the majority of the Massa- 
chusetts churches founded in the seventeenth century, now ac- 
knowledge a Unitarian faith and fellowship. — Unitarian Handbook, 
pp. 10-11. 

The Church Covenant. That which constitutes a Congrega- 
tional church is its covenant, in which its members, on the basis 
of common convictions as to truth and duty, and some unanimity 
of thought and purpose as to the best way of expressing that truth 
and discharging that duty, agree on certain modes of action. — 
Boynton: Congregational Way, p. 52. 

This form is the visible covenant, agreement, or consent, 
whereby they give up themselves unto the Lord, to the observing 
of the ordinances of Christ together in the same society, which is 
usually called the church covenant: For we see not otherwise how 
members can have church-power one over another mutually. — 
Cambridge Platform, iv, 3. 

But how did they form churches? and how are churches now 
to be formed? or what is it that constitutes a number of visible 
saints a proper church? I answer, a mutual covenant. It is by 
confederation, that a number of individual Christians become a 
visible church of Christ. A number of professing Christians can- 
not be formed into a church without their freely and mutually 
covenanting to walk together in all the duties and ordinances of 
the gospel. — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt, ii, 1. 

Nothing besides a covenant can give form to a church, or 
be a sufficient bond of union. Mere Christian affection cannot. 
Though all Christian churches ought to be connected by the bond 
of brotherly love, yet this alone is not sufficient to make a number 
of Christians a church of Christ. This bond of union runs through 
all the Christian world, and cordially unites real Christians of all 
denominations, though divided into various distinct societies. This 
common bond of union cannot be the principal bond of union in 
any particular church. Nor does baptism constitute a person a 
member of any particular church. Many of those strangers in 
Jerusalem, who were baptized on the day of Pentecost, probably 
never saw one another again after they left Jerusalem; so that 
their baptism could not make them members of any particular 
church. Thus it appears, that a number of Christians may form 
themselves into a proper church, or religious society, by a mutual 
covenant. — Emmons: Platform Eccl. Govt., ii, 2. 

Sacredness of Covenant. The church covenant is no more with 
us than this — an agreement and resolution, professed with promise 
to walk in all those ways pertaining to this fellowship, so far as 
they shall be revealed to them in the gospel. Thus briefly and 
indefinitely and implicitly, and in such like words and no other, 
do we apply ourselves to men's consciences, not obtruding upon 
them the mention of any one particular before or in admission, 
. . . leaving their spirits free to the entertainment of the light 
that shines or shall shine on them and us out of the Word. — Thomas 
Goodwin, in Letters to John Goodwin, p. 44. 

Daniel Buck, a member of the church organized in London in 
1592, declared, on his arraignment before three magistrates, that 
when he came into the congregation "he made this protestation, 



394 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



that he would walk with the rest of the congregation, so long as 
they would walk in the way of the Lord, and as far as might be 
warranted by the word of God."— Punchard: Hist, 277, 278. 

It is enough that there be a covenant either expressed or 
implied. — Burton: Rejoinder to Prynne, p. 25. 

A covenant may be "by silent consent, Gen. 17:2; by express 
words, Ex. 19:8; or by writing and sealing, Neh. 9: 38."— Cotton: 
Way of the Churches, 3. 

The church of Christ arises from the coadunition or knitting 
together of many saints into one by a holy covenant, whereby 
they, as lively stones, are built into a spiritual house, I Pet. 2:4, 5. 
Though church covenant be common to all churches in its general 
nature, yet there is a special combination which gives a peculiar 
being to one Congregational church and its members, distinct from 
all others. — John Davenport: Power of Congregational Churches, p. 
62. 

The Salem Covenant. Higginson's Confession of Faith and 
Covenant was acknowledged only as a direction pointing to that 
faith and covenant contained in the Holy Scriptures; and therefore 
no man was confined to that form of words, but only to the sub- 
stance and scope of the matter contained therein; and, for the 
circumstantial manner of joining the church, it was ordered ac- 
cording to the wisdom and faithfulness of the elders, together 
with the liberty and ability of any person. Hence it was that 
some were admitted by expressing their consent to that written 
confession of faith and covenant; others did answer questions 
about the principles of religion, that were publicly propounded to 
them; some did present their confession in writing, which was 
read for them; and some, that were able and willing, did make 
their own confession, in their own words and way. — Morton: New 
England Memorial. 

The Covenant a Sacrament. A Congregational church was 
created by the covenant. It was in reality a third sacrament. — 
Vernon: Southworth Lectures. 

Every true church of God is joyned with him in holye covenant 
by voluntarye profession to have him the God thereof and to be 
his people. — John Robinson. 

The Covenant in 1606. They joyned both hands each with each 
Brother, and stood in a Ringwise: their intent being declared. H. 
Jacob and each of the Rest made some confession or profession 
of their Faith and Repentance: some were longer, some were 
briefer. Then they covenanted together to walk in all God's Ways 
as he revealed or should make known to them. — Record of church 
founded in London by Henry Jacob, 1606. 

Every true Church of God is joyned with Him in holye cov- 
enant by voluntary profession to have him the God thereof & to 
be his people. — From newly discovered MS. of John Robinson, edited 
by Champlin Burrage, Oxford, 1910. 



XXIV. THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 

Why Was There No National Council in the Beginning? 

There was no National Council in the beginning of Amer- 
ican Congregationalism because there was then no nation, 
and also because at that time the Congregational emphasis 
was laid upon independence rather than fellowship. While 
Congregational churches always have believed in fellowship 
and the interchange of advice and the united action of the 
churches in common concerns, no fixed and unalterable 
form existed or was felt to be needed for the expression of 
that fellowship. From time to time councils, synods, and 
conventions were called as occasion required, but the organ- 
ization of a national body, representative of all the Con- 
gregational churches, waited till the consciousness of 
national denominational unity called it into being. 

As the National Council represents a comparatively 
recent development in our denominational life, it is neces- 
sary to treat some topics related to its functions with some- 
what more of fullness than has been necessary in other sec- 
tions of this book. 

What National Congregational Gatherings Preceded the 
National Council? The following gatherings, representa- 
tive of the Congregational churches, may fairly be described 
as in some sense national: 

( I ) The gathering which formulated the Mayflower Com- 
pact. Although this was a body composed of the mem- 
bers of a single Congregational church, it was at that time 
the sole Congregational church within the territory of what 
is now the United States. Already in 1606 the men who 
composed it had organized in Scrooby a free Congrega- 
tional Church. They did this "as the Lord's free people," 
being joined in a covenant "to walk in the ways of the 
Lord, known or to be made known unto them, whatever it 
should cost them, the Lord assisting them." This covenant 
had proved adequate for their needs during their sojourn 



396 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



in Holland, but during their voyage to America some cases 
of incipient insubordination, particularly among some of 
the later arrivals in the colony, indicated the advisability 
of establishing a civil government. With the same calm 
dignity and self-confidence which they had manifested in 
their organization into a church estate, they gathered in the 
cabin of the Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor on November 
ii, 1620, and adopted the Compact, which was signed by 
forty-one male members of the Mayflower community. 

(2) The Newtowne Synod. This synod was called by 
the General Court of Massachusetts and convened in New- 
towne, now Cambridge, on August 30, 1637. It lasted for 
twenty-four days. It was called into existence to consider 
the doctrines of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and others. It was 
constituted of "all the teaching elders through the country 
and of messengers from the churches." It considered and 
catalogued and condemned eighty-two erroneous opinions 
and nine unwholesome expressions. It pronounced what 
Scripture had been perverted and declared what the synod 
considered the true meaning of the passages in question. 
In view of the private gatherings of Mrs. Hutchinson, it 
held that gatherings of church members at or near the 
meeting-house could not be countenanced; that women's 
meetings for doctrinal discussion were not expedient, and 
that members who held views contrary to the discipline of 
the church should not receive letters of dismission. 

(3) The Cambridge Synod. This body convened at Cam- 
bridge, Mass., September, 1646, and continued for four- 
teen days. It assembled again June 8, 1647, and adjourned, 
convening again on October 27, 1647, and held its final 
meeting August 15 to 25, 1648. The Cambridge Synod 
convened pursuant to a letter of inquiry sent by ministers 
in England to New England requesting the judgment of 
their brethren concerning "nine positions/' and also to a 
communication to the churches of New England asking 
thirty-two questions covering the whole field of church 
government. The General Court of Massachusetts was 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 397 

petitioned May, 1646, to convene the churches in a synod. 
The synod was convened by the General Court by' the fol- 
lowing call: 

"That there be a public assembly of the elders and other 
messengers of the several churches, within this jurisdiction, 
who may come together, and meet at Cambridge, upon the 
first day of September, now next ensuing, then to discuss, 
dispute and clear up by the Word of God, such questions 
of church government and discipline, in the things afore- 
mentioned or any other, as they shall think needful and 
meet, and to continue so doing till they or the major part 
of them shall have agreed and consented upon one form of 
government and discipline, for the main and substantial 
parts thereof, as that which they judge agreeable to the 
Holy Scriptures." 

It resulted in the adoption of the so-called Cambridge 
Platform, one of the most important documents of early 
American Congregationalism. 

(4) The Massachusetts Synod. This body assembled 
at Boston, March 10, June 10, July 4, and September 9, 
1662. It was called at the order and desire of the General 
Court. It was composed of seventy elders and messengers 
convened to answer the questions: (a) "Who are the sub- 
jects of baptism?" and (b) "Whether, according to the 
Word of God, there ought to be a consociation of churches, 
and what should be the manner of it?" 

In answer to the first question, the synod recommended 
that persons who had been baptized in infancy and there- 
fore members of the church, might "own the covenant," and 
even if they did not come into full communion, if they were 
not scandalous in their lives, they might be entitled to have 
their children baptized. This judgment, however, failed of 
general approval by the churches. 

With respect to the second question, the synod con- 
tented itself by referring the churches to the Cambridge 
Platform. 

(5) The Reforming Synod. This body assembled at 



398 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Boston, September 10, 1679. It was called by the General 
Court upon a motion made by "certain reverend elders." 
It grew out of the sad lapses in faith and life of many of 
the people of the second and third generations living in 
New England and the distresses of the times which were 
believed to be the result of judgments of God by reason of 
the people's sins. Two questions were asked: (a) "What 
are the evils that have provoked the Lord to bring his 
judgments on New England?" (b) "What is to be done 
so that these evils may be reformed?" 

The finding of this Synod was drawn up by Increase 
Mather. 

(6) The Savoy Synod. This was technically a second 
session of the Reforming Synod of 1679. The brethren who 
composed that earlier body held a second session May 12, 
1680, to "consult and consider a Confession of Faith." This 
lay somewhat outside the scope of their original call, but 
their action met the general approval of the churches and 
also of the General Court, and they adopted with slight 
variations the confession which had been consented to by 
the churches of England at Savoy, in 1658. It was virtually 
the Westminster Confession, with certain changes in re- 
spect to polity. 

(7) The Saybrook Synod. The Saybrook Synod was 
called by the Legislature of Connecticut and convened at 
Saybrook, September 9, 1708. In the call it was directed 
"that the ministers of the several counties should meet at 
the county towns, with such messengers as the churches 
should send, to consider and agree upon methods and rules 
of ecclesiastical discipline, and appoint two or more of their 
number to meet at Saybrook, there to draw a form of 
ecclesiastical discipline to be laid before the Legislature at 
its October session." 

The literary monument of this synod is the Saybrook 
Platform, containing fifteen articles of discipline. Its con- 
tribution to the polity of the denomination was the estab- 
lishment of the Consociation System. 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 399 

(8) The Michigan City Convention. Less than national 
in its membership, but fully national in its influence, was 
a convention of representatives of Congregationalism held 
in Michigan City, Indiana, in 1846, which declared the ad- 
herence of the western churches thus represented to the 
fundamental doctrines of the gospel as set forth by the 
masters of New England theology and also to the historical 
polity of the Congregational churches. This convention 
had large influence in convincing eastern Congregational- 
ists of the essential unity of western Congregationalism 
with that of New England and did much to prepare the 
way for the Albany Convention and later for the National 
Council of 1865. 

(9) The Albany Convention. This body assembled at 
Albany, N. Y., October 5-8, 1852, to express the dawning 
consciousness of denominational unity. It abrogated the 
Plan of Union which had been adopted between the Con- 
necticut Missionary Society and the Presbyterian General 
Assembly in 1801, and pledged $62,000 for the propaganda 
of Congregationalism west of the Hudson. 

(10) The Boston Council of 1865. Chicago Theological 
Seminary is governed by a triennial convention of the Con- 
gregational churches of the Northwest. At its meeting in 
Chicago, April, 1864, it adopted resolutions to the effect 
that the Congregational churches of the United States 
should consult together concerning their common duties 
and opportunities. The General Association of Illinois, 
convening at Quincy, May 27, 1864, approved the resolu- 
tions and voted that a National Convention of Congrega- 
tionalists be invited to assemble either at Springfield, Mass., 
or Albany, N. Y., on Tuesday, September 6, 1864. The 
Congregational Conference of Ohio approved the plan and 
invited the convention to meet at Cleveland. A meeting of 
the delegates of the American Congregational Union assem- 
bled at New Haven, in July, 1864, and suggested that that 
body invite the committees from the several states to meet 
in Broadway Tabernacle, November 16, 1864. Accordingly 



400 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the committees met. Fifteen states were represented ; forty- 
delegates and fourteen honorary members were present. 

At this Conference of Committees it was voted that the 
body convene in Boston on the second Wednesday in June, 
1865; that the selection of members be by the churches in 
the local conferences, one pastor and one delegate, or two 
delegates for each ten churches or major fraction thereof; 
each Conference or Association to be allowed at least one 
pastor and one delegate. 

The Council assembled in the Old South Meeting House 
on July 14, 1865, at 3 o'clock P. M. It gave expression to 
the new sense of unity which the churches felt after the 
Civil War and it adopted the Burial Hill Confession. It 
was an important step toward the organization of the 
National Council itself. 

(11) The Pilgrim Memorial Convention. The Church 
of the Pilgrimage at Plymouth, Mass., invited the churches 
to meet all delegates in New York to consider the appro- 
priateness of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the land- 
ing of the Pilgrims. That meeting was held March 2, 1870, 
and appointed a general committee to prepare for such a 
celebration. Among the acts of this committee was the 
calling of the Pilgrim Memorial Convention, which met at 
Chicago, April 2J, 1870, and was open to delegates from all 
the churches in the United States. The convention included 
the entire membership of the Triennial Convention of the 
Northwest which had met on the day previous. The most 
significant utterance of this convention was the adoption 
of the following resolution: 

"Resolved, That this Pilgrim Memorial Convention 
recommend to the Congregational state conferences and 
associations and the other local bodies to unite in measures 
for instituting any principle of fellowship, excluding ecclesi- 
astical authority as a permanent national authority." 

How Did the National Council Originate? The National 
Council grew directly out of the action of the Pilgrim 
Memorial Convention held in Chicago, April 27, 1870. The 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 401 

underlying conditions, which made such a council appro- 
priate, were set forth by a committee, of which Rev. A. H. 
Quint was chairman, summarizing the findings of the sev- 
eral associations looking toward a national gathering: 

When the Congregational churches were confined almost 
wholly to New England, the facility of intercourse insured a unity 
which needed no more formal expression than the correspondence 
of state bodies with each other by delegates. Hence, it was held 
that no organization broader than that of a single state was neces- 
sary, except when some exigency should arise, such as those which 
prompted the calling of the Albany Convention of 1852, and the 
Council at Boston of 1865. But the rapid extension of the Con- 
gregational connection from the Hudson River to the Pacific 
Ocean, has made the want of some common assembly severely 
felt; and the great and pressing duties of evangelization have made 
the exigencies continual. The staunchest advocates of the rights 
of the churches have come to feel that some visible expression of 
unity is greatly needed, as well as some method of securing com- 
mon consultation upon the duties of the churches in their united 
character; and that both of these objects can be perfectly secured 
without interfering, in the least degree, with those principles of 
local self-government which are dear to this part of Christ's visible 
church. 

A number of State Associations having taken favorable 
action and having appointed committees to join in the call 
of a National Council, a convention of committees was held 
in the Congregational Library in Boston, December 21, 
1870. It was called to order by Dr. Quint, and Rev. Edwin 
B. Webb was elected chairman. The convention continued 
in session on that day and the day following and adopted 
the following resolutions: 

Resolved, 1. That it is expedient, and appears clearly to be 
the voice of the churches, that a National Council of the Congre- 
gational churches of the United States be organized. 

Resolved, 2. That the churches are hereby invited to meet in 
council, by delegates, to form such an organization, and constitute 
its first session at a place and time to be settled by a committee 
hereafter to be appointed, who shall have public notice thereof; 
and that delegates be appointed in number and manner as follows: 
(1) That the churches assembled in their local conferences appoint 
one delegate for every ten churches in their respective organiza- 
tions, and one for a fraction of ten greater than one-half; it being 
understood that wherever the churches of any state are directly 
united in a General Association or Conference, they may, at their 
option, appoint the delegate in the above ratio in General Confer- 
ence, instead of in local conferences. (2) That in addition to the 
above, the churches united in any General Association or Confer- 



402 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ence, appoint by such Association, one delegate, and one for each 
ten thousand communicants in their fellowship, and one for a 
major fraction thereof. (3) That the number of delegates be, in 
all cases, divided between ministers and laymen, as nearly equally 
as is possible. 

Resolved, 3. That a committee, consisting of seven persons, 
be appointed to prepare the draft of a proposed constitution for 
the National Council, to be submitted for consideration at the 
meeting now called, and to be previously published in season for 
consideration by the churches, and that that committee be gov- 
erned by the following directions: 

(1) That the name be as above. 

(2) That reference be made to the Declaration of Faith set 
forth at Plymouth, in the year 1865, as the doctrinal basis. 

(3) That a declaration be made of the two cardinal principles 
of Congregationalism, viz., the exclusive right and power of the 
individual churches to self-government; and the fellowship of the 
churches one with another, with the duties growing out of that 
fellowship and especially the duty of general consultation in all 
matters of common concern to the whole body of churches. 

(4) That the churches withhold from the National Council all 
legislative or judicial power over churches or individuals, and all 
right to act as a council of reference. 

(5) That the objects of the organization be set forth substan- 
tially as follows: 

To express and foster the substantial unity of our churches in 
doctrine, polity, and work. 

To consult upon the common interests of all our churches, their 
duties in the work of evangelization, the united development of 
their resources, and their relations to all parts of the kingdom of 
Christ. 

(6) That the number and manner of electing delegates be as 
now adopted in calling the first meeting. 

(7) That the session be held once in years. 

(8) To provide as simple an organization, with as few officers, 
and with as limited duties as may be consistent with the efficiency 
of the Council in advancing the principles and securing the objects 
of the proposed organization. 

Resolved, 4. That the churches throughout the country be 
notified of the action of this^ convention, and be requested to au- 
thorize their representatives in Conferences to choose delegates as 
above. 

A committee of seven was chosen to prepare a draft of 
the proposed constitution and directed to determine the 
place and time of the first meeting of the Council and to 
issue the call. In accordance with this vote the first 
National Council, calling itself by that name and meeting 
under a constitution providing for recurring sessions, was 
held at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1871. 

What Was the Difference Between the National Council 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 403 

and Previous Synods? The fundamental difference between 
the National Council and the national gatherings which had 
preceded it is in the fact that the National Council, as now 
organized, is a body which meets regularly under a consti- 
tution of its own, with a considerable number of committees 
and commissions carrying on a continuous work on behalf 
of the churches of the denomination. All other differences 
grow out of these. The churches have come to look to it 
inevitably as possessed of more stability and direct repre- 
sentative character than they recognized in pro re nata coun- 
cils called at long intervals. 

When Did the National Council Begin to Enlarge Its 
Powers? Strictly speaking, the National Council has never 
possessed or assumed any power beyond such reason as 
may have appeared in its several acts. Some recommenda- 
tions of the Council have been very frankly disregarded by 
the churches and by the Council itself. Others have from 
the beginning had almost the force of law because they 
appeared to register the judgment of the churches in mat- 
ters where such expression appeared to have been appro- 
priate. At no time has the Council understood itself to be 
making any radical departure from the principles upon 
which it was founded. Looking back upon the history of 
the organization, however, it is rather plain to the historian 
that the Council of 1886 was that which stood at the parting 
of the ways. Up to that time the several meetings of the 
Council had been marked by the rather timid advice which 
they gave in very guarded fashion to the churches. While 
the Council of 1880 provided for the preparation of a creed, 
it took pains that the Council itself should not adopt it, 
but merely that the Commission should give it direct to 
the churches. 

The Council of 1886, however, was the beginning of the 
new order of things. Therein Rev. A. H. Quint, of Massa- 
chusetts, and Rev. A. Hastings Ross, of Michigan, stood 
for a representative body in each state to which the min- 
isters of that state should be directly responsible. Rev. 



404 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Henry M. Dexter opposed these brethren with all the elo- 
quence and ardor which had expressed themselves in his 
great books on Congregational usage. The vote, however, 
was decisive. The National Council of 1886 made member- 
ship in a Congregational Association essential to good and 
regular standing in the Congregational ministry. From 
this time on very nearly everything that Dr. Dexter had 
written about Associations became obsolete, and very much 
that had been declared concerning the National Council 
ceased to be strictly true. Since that time the National 
Council has virtually been a council of reference on various 
important matters representing our common denomina- 
tional concern. 

Need of Denominational Leadership. I certainly believe that 
the best interests of all our churches individually and collectively 
would be promoted by having in some form recognized leaders 
who should look after the interests of the denomination as a 
whole, so that the growth of the denomination should not be lim- 
ited to the extraneous natural accretion of new material to the 
bodies already existing, but should follow the law of development 
of nations and religions alike, by expansion, concert of action, and 
unity of purpose. — Pres. Cyrus Northrup, at National Council of 1907. 

At the outset of our history there was necessarily some nega- 
tive element of protest in the principles of Congregationalism, but 
they speedily took positive form and became the constructive force 
in an order of organized life as definite and homogeneous as was 
compatible with the wide liberty which lay at its foundation. We 
have long been agreed that these principles are primarily two, 
the sufficiency of the local church and the obligations of fellow- 
ship. Around these the ideals and the deeds of Congregationalism 
so far as it constitutes an organic force have centered. After a 
three hundred years' test these principles command our allegiance 
today as completely as they did that of our fathers. It is true that 
there are occasionally found among us, as among them, those who 
look longingly toward Episcopacy or Presbyterianism. But with 
these few exceptions we not only believe in the validity, of those 
old-time affirmations, but also realize their significance for the 
upbuilding of the Kingdom of God in a degree impossible to 
those who stood at the beginning of these three centuries of 
history. We know what they mean for freedom of thought. We 
know how they have unshackled the ministry. We know how 
they have made for individual initiative. We know how they have 
wrought for Christian unity. We know their potency to unmask 
pretentious shams. We know that they have taught men to rely 
not upon external forms and forces but upon the hidden life of 
the Spirit. In other words we see in Congregationalism a polity 
whose justification lies solely in its spiritual power. — Herring: 
Report of Secy. National Council, New Haven, Oct., 1915. 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 405 

Democracy a Spiritual Solidarity. The Congregational system 
or ideal is not a mere theory of Church politics or government, 
but fundamentally a doctrine of religion, a way of apprehending 
and realizing the Christian faith. Its ecclesiastical polity is but 
its doctrine applied to the exercise and cultivation of the religious 
life. Catholicism is a splendid system, even without the religious 
idea that fills it; but Independency, apart from its religious basis 
and ideal, is at once mean and impotent, impracticable and vision- 
ary. Our fathers held that legislation, civil or ecclesiastical, could 
not create a church; conversion and converted men alone could. 
All were kings and priests unto God, and could exercise their 
functions only as they stood in open and immediate relation with 
Him. In His Church Christ did not reign, while officials governed; 
He both governed and reigned. 

This Council speaks of an independency that is ceasing to be 
an isolation and learning to become a brotherhood. There is 
nothing that has so little solidarity as an autocracy. It may 
secure cohesion, but cannot realize unity; its weapons are the 
mechanical forces and clamps that may aggregate and hold to- 
gether atoms; they do not represent those vital principles and laws 
which can build up a living and productive and complete organism. 
— A. M. Fairbaim, at First International Council, London, 1891. 

How Many National Councils Have Been Held? The 

list of National Councils as thus far held or arranged for is 
as follows: 1871, Oberlin, Ohio; 1874, New Haven, Conn.; 
1877, Detroit, Mich.; 1880, St. Louis, Mo.; 1883, Concord, 
N. H.; 1886, Chicago, 111.; 1889, Worcester, Mass.; 1892, 
Minneapolis, Minn.; 1895, Syracuse, N. Y.; 1898, Portland, 
Ore.; 1901, Portland, Me.; 1904, Des Moines, Iowa; 1907, 
Cleveland, Ohio; 1910, Boston, Mass.; 1913, Kansas City, 
Mo.; 191 5, New Haven, Conn.; 1917, Los Angeles, Cal. 
The Council of 1919 will be in an important sense a prepa- 
ration for the fourth International Council, which will com- 
memorate the Tercentenary of the Landing of the Pilgrims, 
and will be held at Boston and Plymouth in 1920. 

Has the National Council Any Definite Doctrinal Plat- 
form? The answer to this question is less easy than at 
first it might seem. On the one hand is the fact of its own 
constant disclaimer of any right to impose a creed on any 
church. On the other is the fact that it has given to the 
churches three creeds, the Burial Hill Confession, the Creed 
of 1883, and the Declaration which forms a portion of the 



406 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

preamble of the constitution adopted at Kansas City in 

1913. 

The Burial Hill Confession was not adopted as a national 
Congregational Creed, but as a sort of fitting climax to the 
Boston Council of 1865 on the occasion of its visit to 
Plymouth. "Standing by the rock where the Pilgrims set 
foot upon these shores, upon the spot where they wor- 
shiped God, and among the graves of the former genera- 
tions," it seemed appropriate that the Congregational Coun- 
cil should say that it held to the essential truths for which 
the Pilgrims lived and died. They did not intend that they 
should thereby impose a creed upon the churches. 

Still, this is what came somewhat near to being done. 
When the Convention of Committees of the several states 
met in Boston, on Forefathers' day in 1870, "to form a' 
National Congregational Council/' it adopted eight resolu- 
tions, outlining the plan of the Council essentially as it 
later was organized, and sent them out to the churches. It 
was on the basis of these eight resolutions that the churches 
elected their delegates through the district and state bodies 
in 1871. The first of these eight resolutions named the 
unborn child, "The National Council of Congregational 
Churches of the United States." The second resolution was 
this: 

That reference be made to the Declaration of Faith set forth 
at Plymouth in the year 1865, as the doctrinal basis. 

Acting under this instruction, the committee appointed 
to present a constitution proposed the following at Oberlin 
hi 1871: 

They (the churches) agree in belief that the Holy Scriptures 
are the sufficient and only rule of faith and practice: their under- 
standing of the doctrines thereof, and their harmony with other 
parts of the Church universal, being sufficiently expressed in the 
Declaration of Faith set forth in the National Council in the year 
1865. 

The second part of this resolution was warmly debated. 
Two objections were raised against it. One was that it did 
not sufficiently emphasize church unity. The other was 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 407 

that it committed the churches to a creed. The creed of 
1865 was itself criticized as offering an inadequate basis. 
It was held that it was not familiar ; that it was not intended 
for any such purpose; and that it referred its reader back 
some hundreds of years to two other creeds. The friends 
of church unity got in an amendment proposing to insert 
after the words "the year 1865" the words "as follows" and 
to add a quotation from the Burial Hill Confession on 
church unity. Dr. Quint, chairman both of the committee 
which had prepared the Burial Hill Confession and that 
which at this time was offering the new constitution, ob- 
jected to quoting one part of the confession and not the rest. 

A multitude of amendments were offered or ready to be 
offered when the session took recess. When the Council 
reassembled, Dr. Quint moved that the doctrinal question 
be referred to a special committee, of which Professor Bart- 
lett of Chicago Seminary was chairman. 

This was done, and this committee recast the section as 
follows : 

They agree in belief that the Holy Scriptures are the sufficient 
and only infallible rule of religious faith and practice; their inter- 
pretation thereof being in substantial accordance with the great 
doctrines of the Christian faith commonly called "evangelical," 
held in our churches from early times, and sufficiently set forth by 
former general Councils. 

This was unanimously adopted. Of "former general 
Councils" that of 1865 was latest and best remembered, and 
its declaration was sufficiently in mind to make this elastic 
reference a satisfactory allusion to it without committing 
the Council to it in any formal manner. 

There was immediate disagreement after adjournment 
of the Council as to how far the churches were committed 
by this declaration. Dr. Bartlett, in an able article, held 
that the word "in accordance with" meant "conformed to, 
molded and governed by the evangelical doctrines." Dr. 
Quint and the moderator, Dr. Buddington, opposed this in- 
terpretation. 

This article does not attempt to define the faith of the churches, 
but the basis of union in the National Council. This does not 



408 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

alter the faith of any church. Every one will hold the evangelical 
doctrines in his own preferred cast. We do not bind ourselves by 
any provincial creeds or teachers. — Quint: Congregational Quar- 
terly, 1872, pp. 70-71. 

This, then, would appear true concerning the National 
Council as first organized: 

(i) It came together with the express understanding 
that the Committee on Constitution had been instructed to 
make the Burial Hill Confession the doctrinal basis of the 
Council. 

(2) The Constitution as adopted was intended not to 
bind any church or member to any creed, but did intend 
that there should be union on the basis of the evangelical 
doctrines, liberally interpreted, the definite reference to the 
Burial Hill declaration having given place to an allusion to 
the creeds "sufficiently set forth by former general Coun- 
cils." 

One other strong influence must be borne in mind in 
interpreting this action. The feeling at Oberlin in 1871 was 
very strong in favor of church union. There were those 
who feared that the organization of the National Congre- 
gational Council would remove us farther from union with 
other bodies. To avoid this, the Council adopted a long 
"Declaration of Unity," which until 1913 was printed be- 
tween the Constitution and By-laws in all editions of the 
Constitution issued by authority of the National Council. 

This "Declaration of Unity" contains the words "We 
believe in the Holy Catholic Church" ; and in the discussions 
it was referred to as a declaration of faith. It is interesting 
that in the six paragraphs of this declaration the only one in 
credal form, the only real credal affirmation of the Council, 
is one which declares the belief of the Council in the Holy 
Catholic Church. 

The Commission's Creed of 1883 was a much more 
carefully considered document than the Burial Hill Confer 
sion, and much better proportioned and more widely influ- 
ential. It was prepared by a Commission of Twenty-five 
of the National Council, and while never formally adopted 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 409 

by the Council, had the moral weight of its influence as an 
expression of the spirit in which the Congregational 
churches of that day interpreted the Word of God. No 
attempt was ever made to include in the Constitution of 
the Council any reference to it as the doctrinal basis of 
the Council. 

The Commission of Nineteen on Polity, in preparing a 
new constitution to be presented to the Council in 1913, 
had very definitely in mind the various complications in 
the situation, and carefully considered the strong expres- 
sions which came to them from many sources as to a plat- 
form for the Council. These expressions represented a 
wide variety of views, from those who opposed any kind 
of doctrinal reference to those who desired a definite creed. 
At least three different creeds were urged upon the Com- 
mission through its Committee on Constitution — The Burial 
Hill Confession, the Creed of 1883, and the Dayton Con- 
fession of 1906. 

The Commission did not consider it any part of its duty 
to prepare a creed for the denomination or for any of its 
churches. It did consider, however, that the Constitution 
ought to contain some doctrinal statement as a declaration 
of our basis of unity in the National Council ; and this was 
the general sentiment in the letters that reached the Com- 
mittee on Constitution. 

The Commission sought to preserve historic continuity 
without any bondage of conscience, and to emphasize, as 
we have ever done, our faith in Christian unity while de- 
claring basic principles of our denominational organization. 
To this end it adopted a simple platform with an opening 
paragraph or preamble, and a paragraph each on doctrine, 
polity, and unity. 

The Confession of Faith which the Commission of Nine- 
teen first sent out was the following simple declaration : 

This Council, and the churches composing it, believing in the 
love of God the Father toward all men, and in the revelation of 
that love in Jesus Christ our Lord, and seeking to live together in 
the life, fellowship and service of the Spirit of God, are united in 



410 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

striving to know their duty as taught in the Holy Scriptures and 
through the present ministration of the Spirit of God, in their 
covenant to walk in the ways of the Lord made known or to be 
made known to them, and in their labor for that righteousness 
which is profitable for the life that now is, and has promise for 
the life everlasting. Heartily accepting that substance of doctrine 
contained in the ancient symbols of the undivided Church, in the 
common faith which belongs to all Christians, and in the truth 
which has found expression in our communion in noble deeds and 
living words set forth by those whose faith we follow, we humbly 
depend, as did our fathers, on the continued guidance of the Holy 
Spirit of God, to lead us into all truth. 

A very few critics objected to any doctrinal statement 
whatever. But ten times as many, and probably more, de- 
clared that the Commission should have gone farther, and 
without attempting an extended or rigid creed, should put 
in the forefront of the Constitution a simple declaration of 
faith, beginning, not with an assumption, but a declaration, 
and changing the participial clause with which the Com- 
mission had deliberately begun its statement to a positive 
utterance of faith. 

From many quarters, also, came the plea for a statement 
which might be used for other purposes as individual 
churches and church members should find occasion. And 
it was urged that the statement be more definitely christo- 
logical. The Chicago Ministers' Union made this request 
in formal resolution and it was echoed in scores of places. 

Acting under this widespread request, the Commission 
prepared the short declaration of faith which is found in 
the preamble of the new Constitution. 

The Congregational Churches of the United States, by delegates 
in National Council assembled, reserving all the rights and cher- 
ished memories belonging to this organization under its former 
Constitution, and declaring the steadfast allegiance of the churches 
composing the Council to the faith which our fathers confessed, 
which from age to age has found its expression in the historic 
creeds of the Church universal and of this Communion, and affirm- 
ing our loyalty to the basic principles of our representative democ- 
racy, hereby set forth the things most surely believed among us 
concerning faith, polity and fellowship: 

Faith 
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, goodness, 
and love; and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord and Saviour, who 
for us and our salvation lived and died, and rose again and liveth 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 411 

evermore; and in the Holy Spirit, who taketh of the things of 
Christ and revealeth them to us, renewing, comforting, and inspir- 
ing the souls of men. We are united in striving to know the will 
of God as taught in the Holy Scriptures, and in our purpose to 
walk in the ways of the Lord, made known or to be made known 
to us. We hold it to be the mission of the Church of Christ to 
proclaim the gospel to all mankind, exalting the worship of the 
one true God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the 
promotion of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of 
human brotherhood. Depending, as did our fathers, upon the 
continued guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, 
we work and pray for the transformation of the world into the 
kingdom of God; and we look with faith for the triumph of right- 
eousness and the life everlasting. 

Polity 
We believe in the freedom and responsibility of the individual 
soul, and the right of private judgment. We hold to the autonomy 
of the local church and its independence of all ecclesiastical con- 
trol. We cherish the fellowship of the churches, united in dis- 
trict, state and national bodies, for counsel and co-operation in 
matters of common concern. 

The Wider Fellowship 
While affirming the liberty of our churches, and the validity of 
our ministry, we hold to the unity and catholicity of the Church 
of Christ, and will unite with all its branches in hearty co-opera- 
tion; and will earnestly seek, so far as in us lies, that the prayer 
of our Lord for his disciples may be answered, that they all may 
be one. 

Who Creates the National Council? Although the dele- 
gates to the National Council are elected by District Asso- 
ciations and State Conferences, they are constituted by the 
churches. Both the old and the new Constitutions of the 
National Council definitely affirm this principle. 

The Churches Constitute the Council. The Congregational 
churches of the United States, not their Associations and Confer- 
ences, are the constituent members as saith its constitution. The 
delegates to the meetings of the Council, elected in the local and 
state bodies, are representatives of the churches which directly 
compose those bodies and the Council. Thus our highest admin- 
istrative agency is but one step removed from the churches them- 
selves. — Nash: Cong. Administration, p. 132. 

Do Delegates Represent Associations? Delegates to the 
National Council represent the churches. For convenience 
they are elected in part by District Associations and in part 
by State Conferences, but the Constitution definitely and 
with purpose states that "the churches in each District 



412 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Association" and "the churches in each State Conference 
shall be represented" by the delegates which the churches 
elect through these representative bodies. 

Must Members of the National Council Reside Within 
the District Which Elects Them? The Constitution of the 
National Council provides in Article 3, Section 1, paragraph 
D, that a delegate who removes from the bounds of the 
Conference or Association by which he has been elected, 
shall be deemed by the fact of that removal to have resigned 
his membership in the Council, and the Conference or 
Association may proceed to fill the unexpired term by elec- 
tion. If the question be asked, Could the Conference or 
Association elect him again after he removed? the answer 
is that it probably would not do that, but that it could not 
be prevented if it chose. The District Association has 
sometimes been represented by delegates residing in the 
state but outside the bounds of the Association. This has 
usually been because the Association found it impossible 
to be represented by one of its own resident members. It 
is desirable that delegates should reside in the district which 
elects them, but if an Association or Conference elects a 
delegate deliberately with the knowledge that he is not a 
resident, the National Council cannot exclude him from 
membership. 

The Council in 1915 voted that a delegate who at the 
time of his election lives outside the district or state electing 
him may nevertheless be seated as a delegate. 

How Are Vacancies Filled? Each state or district 
organization which elects delegates to the National Council 
may provide in its own way for the filling of vacancies, but 
the Constitution provides that in the absence of any special 
rule on the part of such state or district body, the Council 
will recognize the right of the delegates present to fill 
vacancies in their own delegation. 

May an Alternate Be Displaced? If a primary delegate 
does not appear and his alternate is seated in his stead, the 
properly accredited alternate or substitute succeeds the pri- 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 413 

mary delegate for his entire term and the primary becomes 
the alternate. This membership holds good also in the 
several societies. An alternate or substitute enrolled as a 
member of the Council and certified to the societies for 
membership therein, shall be thereafter deemed a member 
instead of the primary delegate for the term for which that 
delegate was elected. 

May There Be Temporary Alternates? A new by-law 
adopted by the National Council at New Haven in 1915, 
wisely provided an arrangement whereby the absence of a 
delegate from one or more sessions of a meeting of the 
National Council shall not deprive him of his seat or lessen 
the representation of the body electing him if a duly ac- 
credited alternate from the body which elected him is avail- 
able for substitution in his stead. Under this new ruling if 
a delegate is unable to be present at the opening of a meet- 
ing of the Council, he can nevertheless be enrolled and his 
seat can be taken by his alternate until the time of the 
arrival of the primary. If the primary is called away before 
the end of a meeting, his alternate may be enrolled in his 
stead for the remaining sessions of the meeting. This is a 
matter of special importance in its effect upon the standing 
of four-year delegates. Under the operation of this plan, 
a four-year delegate who is compelled to leave the first 
meeting of the Council of which his election constitutes 
him a member, and in whose place an alternate is seated 
for the remaining sessions of that meeting, does not lose 
his place as a delegate to the Council at its meeting two 
years later. 

The question whether in such substitution a particular 
alternate must act for a particular delegate, is one which 
the Council does not itself decide. The Association or Con- 
ference electing delegates and alternates is entitled to deter- 
mine in what order they are to become eligible for service. 
But unless the electing body by vote determines a plan of 
limitation, the delegate is at liberty to deputize any alter- 



414 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

nate who has been accredited as such by the body by which 
he himself has been elected. 

By-Law XVIII. A duly enrolled delegate may deputize any 
alternate duly appointed by the body appointing the delegate, to 
act for him, at any session of the Council by special designation 
applicable to the session in question. 

If no Delegate Appears Is Representation Lost? If 

neither the primary nor his substitute appears at the first 
meeting after his election, the members having been elected 
for a period of four years, the election holds valid for the 
second biennial and any specially called Councils. A dele- 
gate who cannot attend the first meeting and is unable to 
provide a substitute, may and should file his credentials, 
and thereby become a member of the Council entitled to 
vote at the intervening annual meeting of the several mis- 
sionary societies. 

(1) Membership in the Council shall entitle one to voting 
membership in the several benevolent societies only when the 
certificate of election as delegate is approved by the Committee on 
Credentials of the National Council. 

(2) In the absence of a delegate from the first stated meeting 
of the Council after his election, the properly accredited substitute, 
being duly enrolled and present, succeeds the primary delegate 
for the entire unexpired term. 

(3) If any delegate cannot be present at the first meeting of 
the Council after his election, he may send his certificate of election 
to the Committee on Credentials, and if his place is not filled by 
a substitute, properly enrolled, the primary delegate shall be en- 
rolled as a member, in absentia, such enrollment being equivalent 
to attendance as evidence of membership. 

(4) The substitute for the primary delegate shall have the same 
privilege of presenting his credentials, in absentia, accorded to the 
delegate; and if said primary delegate shall not be enrolled, and 
the credentials are approved, the name of the substitute shall be 
inserted in the roll as having qualified as a member of the Council. 
— Resolutions National Council, 1913. 

What Is the Purpose of the National Council? The pur- 
pose of the National Council is stated in the second article 
of its Constitution: 

The purpose of the National Council is to foster and express 
the substantial unity of the Congregational churches in faith, 
polity, and work; to consult upon and devise measures and main- 
tain agencies for the promotion of their common interests; to co- 
operate with any corporation or body under control of or affiliated 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 415 

with the Congregational churches, or any of them; and to do and 
to promote the work of the Congregational churches of the United 
States in their national, international and interdenominational rela- 
tions. — Art. ii. 

How Is the National Council Supported? The National 
Council is supported by a per capita assessment on the 
membership of the Congregational churches, which is uni- 
form throughout all the states. To this is added in each 
state the percentage necessary for the support of the state 
work, and the two are collected by the registrar of the 
State Conference through the District Association. The 
total varies as the expense of the state work varies. Neither 
the District Association nor the State Conference nor the 
National Council has power to enforce the collection of this 
assessment, and it sometimes is not collected; but in gen- 
eral the churches respond with reasonable promptness. The 
expenses of the National Council are small as compared 
with those of the national organizations of many denomina- 
tions, as the delegates pay their own expenses. The money 
collected is for the maintenance of the office, the salary of 
the secretary and his assistants, the publication of the Year 
Book, and for certain authorized expenses incurred by com- 
missions of the Council. 

What Is the Corporation for the National Council? The 

corporation for the National Council is a legal body incor- 
porated under the laws of Connecticut, with very large cor- 
porate powers, enabling it to do such acts and to discharge 
such trusts as properly belong to such a corporation, accord- 
ing to the constitution, rules and instructions of the National 
Council. It may hold real estate and accept trusts either 
for the Council or for any Congregational society or church, 
according to instructions which may from time to time be 
given to it by the National Council. 

(5) The corporation shall receive and hold all property, real 
and personal, of the Council, and all property, real and personal, 
which may be conveyed to it in trust, or otherwise, for the benefit 
of Congregational churches or of any Congregational church; and 
acting for the Council between the meetings of the Council in all 
business matters not otherwise delegated or reserved, shall do 



416 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

such acts and discharge such trusts as properly belong to such a 
corporation and are in conformity to the constitution, rules and 
instructions of the Council. 

(6) The corporation may adopt for its government and the 
management of its affairs, standing by-laws and rules not incon- 
sistent with its charter or with the constitution, by-laws and rules 
of the Council. 

(7) The corporation shall make such reports to the Council as 
the Council may require. — By-Laws of the National Council, art. 
xii. 

What Are the Functions of the National Council Moder- 
ator? The moderator of the National Council, besides pre- 
siding at the meeting at which he is elected and at any 
special meeting of the Council during his term of office, has, 
also, according to the present Constitution, a representative 
function, but all his acts are devoid of authority, and his 
utterances have only so much weight as is in the reason 
of them. The function of the moderator as now interpreted 
by the National Council is the result of an interesting evo- 
lution. From the beginning of the Council in 1871 until 
the accession of Rev. Amory H. Bradford, D. D., as mod- 
erator in 1901, the moderator was simply a presiding officer. 
Dr. Bradford introduced a change in this custom of thirty 
years' standing, taking his suggestion from the usage in 
England. 

The first meeting of the Council in Oberlin in 1871 con- 
tinued several days under its temporary organization before 
electing as its permanent moderator Rev. William Ives 
Buddington, D. D., of Brooklyn. The constitution adopted 
toward the close of the meeting provided that 

At the beginning of every stated or special session there shall 
be chosen, from those present as members, a moderator and one 
or more assistant moderators, to preside over their deliberations. 

At St. Louis in 1880 the question of the eligibility of 
honorary members was raised, and it was voted 

That in the opinion of the Council, honorary members are not 
eligible to the office of moderator. 

This vote was virtually set aside at Kansas City in 1913 
by the election of an honorary member as first assistant 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 417 

moderator; and this precedent makes an honorary member 
eligible as moderator or assistant. 

At the beginning of each of the early meetings there 
was considerable waste of time through lack of preparation 
of business. The Council of 1886 which met in Chicago 
was in very many respects a notable one. Not the least of 
its features of interest was the activity of the Provisional 
Committee, which, under the chairmanship of an efficient 
young layman, Samuel B. Capen, frankly exceeded its 
powers, laid out a program with business arranged from 
the beginning, and submitted nominations for the more im- 
portant committees. 

In reporting these innovations, the committee said : 

A practical matter in the organization of the Council calls for 
your recognition and action if the Council please. The business 
of such a body must take shape largely in the hands of committees, 
and they need to be appointed as early as possible to give time 
for deliberation and due reports. But the moderator comes to 
the chair with no anticipation, and in shaping committees in haste, 
and from a roll still to be made out, would be likely to miss some 
of the best results, regarding both geographical considerations 
and the assignment of the very best men to important places; nor 
would their selection by nomination be any safer. Not because 
we desire the responsibility, but under our general instructions to 
make "needful arrangements," and following the actual usage of 
previous years, we choose to be frank in saying that we have made 
provisional selection of some such committees, subject, of course, 
to your approval, by the voice of your moderator or otherwise, 
as you may direct. 

The difficulty seems to call for your action in one of two ways, 
either giving the Provisional Committee authority to act as a 
nominating committee, at the outset of the session, and until a 
nominating committee is chosen; or, precluding such action on 
their part, by requiring the selection of all committees by the 
suffrage of the Council itself when assembled. 

The Council was gratified by the efficiency of its Pro- 
visional Committee, but was fearful of the abuse of power 
by subsequent committees. It therefore was unwilling to 
lodge with the Provisional Committee so much of power 
as had been suggested. It hit upon what seemed the happy 
way of providing for the prompt organization of the Coun- 
cil without danger of overmuch politics. If the moderator 
of the last Council (they did not call him the retiring mod- 



418 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

erator) were to call the next Council to order and appoint 
the committees for business, credentials and nomination, at 
the Council "subsequent to the one at which he is elected" 
(they underscored the word "subsequent" for it was their 
new idea) no danger of centralization could arise. 

The committee of seven to whom the matter was re- 
ferred reported later in the meeting* the following, which 
later became the Fourteenth By-Law: 

Presiding officers shall retain their offices until their successors 
are chosen, and the presiding moderator, at the opening of the 
session subsequent to the one at which he was elected, shall name 
the Nominating Committee, the Business Committee, and the Com- 
mittee on Credentials; and he shall be an honorary member of the 
Council. 

So small did the moderator bulk in this plan in the mind 
of the Council that one searches in vain through the index 
of the minutes of the Council of 1886 for the word "moder- 
ator." Nor does the action appear under the caption "Mod- 
erator" in the National Council Digest. The committee that 
drafted this by-law were surprised in later years when they 
found that they had made possible the theory of a moder- 
atorship which might be held over from one Council to tht 
next. Such, certainly, was not their intention, and it is 
equally certain that the Council would have voted it down 
had it suspected that such an interpretation could be put 
upon it. 

The very next meeting of the Council at Worcester in 
1889 abridged the powers of the moderator. Two of the 
three committees were taken away from the moderator. 
Only one was left to him, the Committee on Nominations, 
and at Syracuse in 1895 this one remaining committee was 
made not an appointment but a nomination by the moder- 
ator, subject to the approval of the Council. 

At Portland, Maine, in 1901, it was voted that "The 
moderator is expected to open the Council immediately fol- 
lowing the one at which he is elected with an address on 
a subject to be selected by himself." This the moderator 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 419 

was already doing, and the custom had met with favor, and 
was thus approved for subsequent Councils. 

At Des Moines in 1904, the Council was asked to define 
the sphere of the moderatorship, and a report was presented 
by a committee which set forth that the sphere of the mod- 
eratorship had twice been enlarged, once by providing that 
the moderator should preside at the organization of the 
following Council, and again in permitting him to deliver 
an opening address, and it advised in favor of a further 
enlargement of his sphere of influence. The resolution pro- 
posed was as follows: 

In view of the widening opportunities of Congregationalism and 
the increasing desire for fellowship through denominational repre- 
sentation, it is the sense of the Council, that the moderator inter- 
pret his position generously, as having, in addition to presiding 
duties, a representative function; that visiting upon invitation, 
churches and Associations, so far as he may be able and disposed, 
addressing the churches, if in his judgment occasion requires it, 
and, in general, serving the churches, be regarded as his preroga- 
tive. 

But it is understood that all his acts and utterances shall be 
devoid of authority, and that for them shall be claimed and to 
them given only such weight and force as there is weight and 
force in the reason of them. 

The resolution was warmly debated on the floor of the 
Council, some members claiming that it was unconstitu- 
tional and based on the misinterpretation of the intent of 
an ambiguous by-law. It was urged that the moderator 
must be a member of the Council, and that all member- 
ships expired with the meeting, regular or special, and that 
therefore the moderator could not continue to exercise the 
functions of that office without plain violation of the Con- 
stitution as it then read. The resolution, however, pre- 
vailed, and has been accepted since as the Council's inter- 
pretation of the Fourteenth By-Law as it stood before the 
present revision. 

Recognizing the evident desire of the churches as repre- 
sented in the National Council, the Committee on Consti- 
tution, in drafting the new Constitution in preparation for 



420 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the Council of 1913, defined the moderator's powers in terms 
of wider service than the previous Constitution. 

(1) At each stated meeting of the Council there shall be chosen 
from among those present as voting members of the Council, a 
moderator and a first and a second assistant moderator, who shall 
hold office for two years and until their successors are elected and 
qualified. 

(2) The moderator shall preside at the opening of the meeting 
of the Council following that at which he is elected, and may 
deliver an address on a subject of his own selection. 

(3) The moderator immediately after his election shall take 
the chair, and, after prayer, shall at once proceed to complete the 
organization of the Council. 

(4) The representative function of the moderator shall be that 
of visiting and addressing churches and Associations upon their 
invitation, so far as he may be able and disposed. It is understood 
that all his acts and utterances shall be devoid of authority, and 
that for them shall be claimed and to them given only such weight 
and force as there is weight and force in the reason of them. 

What Are the Duties of the Secretary of the National 
Council? The Secretary of the National Council is both a 
recording and corresponding secretary. He keeps the 
records of the Council, edits and distributes programs and 
registration blanks for its meetings, and gathers, edits and 
publishes denominational statistics. He is also in the nature 
of the case in frequent consultation with officers or state 
organizations, with pastors and local church officers and 
with committees and commissions of the National Council. 
The Council in session at Kansas City in 1913 thus defines 
his prerogatives and duties: 

The secretary shall keep the records and conduct the corre- 
spondence of the Council and of the Executive Committee. He 
shall edit the Year Book and other publications, and shall send 
out notices of all meetings of the Council and of its Executive 
Committee. He shall aid the committees and commissions of the 
Council, and shall be the secretary of the Commission on Missions. 
He shall be available for advice and help in matters of polity and 
constructive organization, and render to the churches such services 
as shall be appropriate to his office. He may, like the moderator, 
represent the Council and the churches in interdenominational rela- 
tions. For his aid one or more assistants shall be chosen at each 
meeting of the Council to serve during such meeting. 

Is There Danger That the National Council Will Commit 
the Denomination to Disastrous Policies? The danger 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 421 

that the National Council will some time assume larger 
functions than belong to it and commit the denomination 
to disastrous policies is not wholly imaginary. The history 
of denominational organization abounds in warnings. The 
love of power grows easily among those who come to 
possess it, and some organizations, very innocent in their 
inception, have developed large and insidious powers of 
usurpation. Two things, however, are to be remembered. 
First — The National Council can never commit the churches 
beyond their own power of veto or repeal. Second — If 
the National Council does not commit the denomination, 
someone else will. The Connecticut Missionary Society, 
a state organization, committed the whole denomination to 
the Plan of Union, by reason of which the growth of our 
churches was stifled for fifty-one disastrous years, and the 
deed having been done, was done beyond recall of any one 
state organization. It required what was practically a 
National Council in 1852 to repeal what the single state 
society did in 1801. The organic unity of the Congrega- 
tional churches calls for a vehicle of expression through 
which the churches may speak unitedly. It is better for 
the denomination, if it is to be put on record at all, to speak 
through an authorized medium of its own creation rather 
than through some unauthorized and non-representative 
body. The danger is not averted by failing to use an ac- 
credited organization such as the National Council ; on the 
contrary, the experience of the Congregational churches 
tends to show that it is increased. The National Council 
has as yet no blunder to its credit at all comparable with 
the Plan of Union of 1801. 

Liberty Not Threatened. It is time, of course, to repeat the 
ancient and honorable reminder that such a national body as is 
now being described, set at the head of the Congregational repre- 
sentative system, does not threaten the liberties of the churches. 
It declines legislative and judicial functions. It has no authority 
to intrude into the private affairs of a single church. It offers 
no coercive interference to conferences and associations in their 
respective fields. As we have seen, the churches organize the 
Council, and the movement is from below upward. The Council 
has nothing but what is left over from the lower bodies — left over 



422 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

because too great for even state management. The Council is a 
national union for national purposes. On these wide issues it 
formulates the thought and will of the churches. It spreads these 
formulations before all the churches at once. It organizes action 
in which the whole denomination can co-operate. It has apparatus 
for executing the ascertained will of the denomination. Thus it is 
the servant of the whole body, the agency through which six thou- 
sand churches may act as one on lines of universal Congregational 
duty.— Nash: Congregational Administration, pp. 149, 150. 

The Churches Rule the National Council. The portion of 
administrative responsibility which should be nationally met being 
already assigned to the National Council we have an arrangement 
simple, obvious and flexible. Every group of churches large and 
small can make itself felt, if it desires, in the guidance of our 
world-wide work. We can easily change the method of repre- 
sentation if experience shall so suggest. We can introduce features 
to meet special conditions as in providing for members at large 
for one Board and another. We can provide agencies to advise 
the Council concerning the detail of its responsibilities such as the 
Commission on Missions. The Council by reason of the bulk and 
importance of the work under its care will command the interest 
of strong men and women. Decisions reached will be put into 
force without delay since all parts of the missionary structure are 
included in a unified view. Behind the whole will be the entire 
life of the churches, which ought surely to receive new vigor from 
closer and more responsible contact with these inspiring tasks. — 
Herring: Report of Secy. Nat. Council, New Haven, 1915. 

Congregationalism and Liberty. The greatest contribution of 
Congregationalism to American life has been its sublime faith in 
liberty, both in Church and State, and its insistence on education 
as an indispensable condition of the maintenance of a liberty which 
will not degenerate into license. 

The distinctive message of present day Congregationalism for 
America is a call to repentance, and to faith in the principles of 
Jesus Christ as the law both for individuals and nations, the mes- 
sage unencumbered by any doctrines concerning sacraments or 
clerical orders or ecclesiastical organization, and set free from all 
traditional theories and interpretations which hinder the progress 
of the kingdom of love. — Charles E. Jefferson. 

Congregationalists have a distinct message and mission to mod- 
ern thought and life. They stand for essential loyalty to evangeli- 
cal Christianity, preserving its permanent content as historically 
transmitted, but adapting its statement reverently and courageously 
to the thought-forms of the generation. Congregational churches 
offer a hospitable and satisfying home for souls who are determined 
to think for themselves in religion, who crave simple forms for the 
expression of common worship, and who cherish the ideal of free- 
dom in Church and State alike. The genius of Congregationalism 
is close kin to that of American democracy and the permanence of 
its service to American life is warranted by this fact — Ozora S. 
Davis. 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 423 

THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE 

NATIONAL COUNCIL 

(Adopted October 25, 1913.) 

(Including the Amendments adopted at New Haven, October, 1915.) 



The Congregational Churches of the United States, by delegates 
in National Council assembled, reserving all the rights and cher- 
ished memories belonging to this organization under its former 
constitution, and declaring the steadfast allegiance of the churches 
composing the Council to the faith which our fathers confessed, 
which from age to age has found its expression in the historic 
creeds of the Church universal and of this communion, and affirm- 
ing our loyalty to the basic principles of our representative democ- 
racy, hereby set forth the things most surely believed among us 
concerning faith, polity, and fellowship: 

FAITH 

We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, goodness, 
and love; and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord and Saviour, who 
for us and our salvation lived and died and rose again and liveth 
evermore; and in the Holy Spirit, who taketh of the things of 
Christ and revealeth them to us, renewing, comforting, and inspir- 
ing the souls of men. We are united in striving to know the will 
of God as taught in the Holy Scriptures, and in our purpose to 
walk in the ways of the Lord, made known or to be made known 
to us. We hold it to be the mission of the Church of Christ to 
proclaim the gospel to all mankind, exalting the worship of the 
one true God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the 
promotion of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of 
human brotherhood. Depending, as did our fathers, upon the 
continued guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, 
we work and pray for the transformation of the world into the 
kingdom of God; and we look with faith for the triumph of right- 
eousness and the life everlasting. 

POLITY 

We believe in the freedom and responsibility of the individual 
soul, and the right of private judgment. We hold to the autonomy 
of the local church and its independence of all ecclesiastical con- 
trol. We cherish the fellowship of the churches, united in district, 
state, and national bodies, for counsel and co-operation in matters 
of common concern. 

THE WIDER FELLOWSHIP 

While affirming the liberty of our churches, and the validity of 



424 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL US AGE 

our ministry, we hold to the unity and catholicity of the Church 
of Christ, and will unite with all its branches in hearty co-operation; 
and will earnestly seek, so far as in us lies, that the prayer of our 
Lord for his disciples may be answered, that they all may be one. 
United in support of these principles, the Congregational 
Churches in National Council assembled agree in the adoption of 
the following Constitution: 

ARTICLE I.— NAME 

The name of this body is the National Council of the Congre- 
gational Churches of the United States. 

ARTICLE II.— PURPOSE 

The purpose of the National Council is to foster and express 
the substantial unity of the Congregational churches in faith, polity, 
and work; to consult upon and devise measures and maintain agen- 
cies for the promotion of their common interests; to co-operate 
with any corporation or body under control of or affiliated with 
the Congregational churches, or any of them; and to do and to 
promote the work of the Congregational churches of the United 
States in their national, international, and interdenominational re- 
lations. 

ARTICLE III.— MEMBERS 

1. Delegates, (a) The churches in each District Association 
shall be represented by one delegate. Each association having 
more than ten churches shall be entitled to elect one additional 
delegate for each additional ten churches or major fraction thereof. 
The churches in each State Conference shall be represented by 
one delegate. Each conference having churches whose aggregate 
membership is more than ten thousand shall be entitled to elect 
one additional delegate for each additional ten thousand members 
or major fraction thereof. States having associations but no 
conference, or vice versa, shall be entitled to their full representa- 
tion. 

(b) Delegates shall be divided, as nearly equally as practicable, 
between ministers and laymen. 

(c) The Secretary and the Treasurer shall be members, ex of- 
ficiis, of the Council. 

(d) Any delegate who shall remove from the bounds of the 
conference or association by which he has been elected to the 
Council shall be deemed by the fact of that removal to have re- 
signed his membership in the Council, and the Conference or 
Association may proceed to fill the unexpired term by election. 

2. Honorary Members. Former moderators and assistant mod- 
erators of the Council, ministers serving the churches entertaining 
the the Council, persons selected as preachers or to prepare papers, 
or to serve upon committees or commissions chosen by the Council, 
missionaries present who are in the service of the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and have been not less 
than seven years in that service, together with one delegate each 
from such theological seminaries and colleges as are recognized by 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 425 

the Council, may be enrolled as honorary members and shall be 
entitled to all privileges of members in the meeting of the Council 
except those of voting and initiation of business. 

3. Corresponding Members. The Council shall not increase its 
own voting membership, but members of other denominations, 
present by invitation or representing their denominations, repre- 
sentatives of Congregational bodies in other lands, and other per- 
sons who represent important interests, or have rendered distin- 
guished services, may, by vote, be made corresponding members, 
and entitled to the courtesy of the floor. 

4. Vacancies and Alternates. Each state or district organization 
may provide in its own way for filling vacancies in its delegation. 
In the absence of any special rule on the part of such state or 
district body, the Council will recognize the right of the delegates 
present to fill vacancies in their own delegation. 

An alternate or substitute enrolled as a member of the Council 
and certified to the societies for membership therein, shall be there- 
after deemed a member instead of the primary delegate for the 
term for which that delegate was elected. 

5. Terms of Membership. At its stated meeting in 1915, the 
National Council will divide all delegates, unless they shall have 
been so divided by the bodies electing them, into two classes, to 
serve respectively for two and four years. Thereafter the term of 
delegates shall be four years. 

The term of a member shall begin at the opening of the next 
stated meeting of the Council after his election, and shall expire 
with the opening of the second stated meeting of the Council there- 
after. He shall be a member of any intervening special meeting of 
the Council. 

ARTICLE IV.— MEETINGS 

1. Stated Meetings. The churches shall meet in National Council 
once in two years, the time and place of meeting to be announced 
at least six months previous to the meeting. 

2. Special Meetings. The National Council shall convene in spe- 
cial meeting whenever any seven of the general state organizations 
so request. 

3. Quorum. Delegates present from a majority of the states 
entitled to representation in the Council shall constitute a quorum. 

ARTICLE V.— BY-LAWS 

The Council may make and alter By-Laws at any stated meet- 
ing by a two-thirds vote of members present and voting; provided, 
that no new By-Law shall be enacted and no By-Law altered or 
repealed on the day on which the change is proposed. 

ARTICLE VL— AMENDMENTS 

This Constitution shall not be altered or amended, except at a 
stated meeting, and by a two-thirds vote of those present and 
voting, notice thereof having been given at a previous stated 
meeting, or the proposed alteration having been requested by some 
general state organization of churches entitled to representation 
in the Council, and published with the notification of the meeting. 



426 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

BY-LAWS 
I.— THE CALL OF A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL 

1. The call for any meeting shall be issued by the Executive 
Committee and signed by their chairman and by the Secretary 
of the Council. It shall contain a list of topics proposed for 
consideration at the meeting. The Secretary shall seasonably fur- 
nish blank credentials and other needful papers to the scribes of 
the several district and state organizations of the churches entitled 
to representation in the Council. 

2. The meetings shall ordinarily be held in the latter part of 
October. 

II.— THE FORMATION OF THE ROLL 

Immediately after the call to order the Secretary shall collect 
the credentials of delegates present, and these persons shall be 
prima facie the voting membership for purposes of immediate or- 
ganization. Contested delegations shall not delay the permanent 
organization, but shall be referred to the Committee on Creden- 
tials, all contested delegations refraining from voting until their 
contest is settled. 

III.— THE MODERATOR 

1. At each stated meeting of the Council there shall be chosen 
from among the members of the Council, a Moderator and a first 
and second Assistant Moderator, who shall hold office for two 
years and until their successors are elected and qualified. 

2. The Moderator immediately after his election shall take 
the chair, and after prayer shall at once proceed to complete the 
organization of the Council, and to cause rules of order to be 
adopted. 

3. The representative function of the Moderator shall be that 
of visiting and addressing churches and associations upon their 
invitations, and of representing the Council and the Congrega- 
tional churches in the wider relations of Christian fellowship, so 
far as he may be able and disposed. It is understood that all his 
acts and utterances shall be devoid of authority and that for them 
shall be claimed and to them given only such weight and force 
as inhere in the reason of them. 

4. The Moderator shall preside at the opening of the stated 
meeting of the Council following that at which he is elected, and 
may deliver an address on a subject of his own selection. 

IV.— THE SECRETARY 

The Secretary shall keep the records and conduct the corre- 
spondence of the Council and of the Executive Committee. He 
shall edit the Year Book and other publications, and shall send 
out notices of all meetings of the Council and of its Executive 
Committee. He shall aid the committees and commissions of the 
Council and shall be secretary of the Commission on Missions. 
He shall be available for advice and help in matters of polity and 
constructive organization, and render to the churches such services 
as shall be appropriate to his office. He may, like the Moderator, 
represent the Council and the churches in interdenominational rela- 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 427 

tions. For his aid one or more assistants shall be chosen at each 
meeting of the Council to serve during such meeting. 

V.— THE TREASURER 

The Treasurer shall receive and hold all income contributed 
or raised to meet the expenses of the Council, shall disburse the 
same on the orders of the Executive Committee, and shall give 
bond in such sum as the Executive Committee shall from time to 
time determine. 

VI.— TERM OF OFFICE 

The term of office of the Secretary, Treasurer, and of any other 
officer not otherwise provided for shall begin at the close of the 
meeting at which they are chosen, and continue until the close of 
the next stated meeting, and until their successors are elected and 
qualified. 

VII.— COMMITTEES 

As soon as practicable after taking the chair, the Moderator 
shall cause to be read to the Council the names proposed by the 
Nominating Committee for a Business Committee and a Committee 
on Credentials. These names shall be chosen so as to secure rep- 
resentation to different parts of the country, and the names shall 
be published in the denominational papers at least one month 
before the meeting of the Council, and printed with t e call of the 
meeting. The Council may approve these nominations or change 
them in whole or in part. 

1. The Committee on Credentials. The Committee on Credentials 
shall prepare and report as early as practicable a roll of members. 
Of this committee the Secretary shall be a member. 

2. The Business Committee. The Business Committee shall consist 
of not less than nine members. It shall prepare a docket for the 
use of the Council, and subject to its approval. All business to be 
proposed to the Council shall first be presented to this committee, 
but the Council may at its pleasure consider any item of business 
for which such provision has been refused by the committee. 

3. The Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall 
consist of nine members, to be elected by the Council on the 
nomination of the Moderator, and shall serve from the close of one 
stated meeting till the close of the following stated meeting of the 
Council. Five members shall be so chosen for four years, and four 
for two years, and thereafter members shall be chosen for four 
years. This committee shall nominate to the Council all officers, 
committees, and commissions for which the Council does not other- 
wise provide. But the Council may, at its pleasure, choose commit- 
tees, commissions, or officers by nomination from the floor or 
otherwise as it shall from time to time determine. Members of the 
Nominating Committee who have served for a full term shall not 
be eligible for re-election until after an interval of two years. 

4. The Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall con- 
sist of the Moderator, the Secretary, and nine other persons, and 
shall be so chosen that the terms of the elected members shall 
ultimately be six years, the term of three members expiring at each 
stated meeting of the Council. ( 

5. Other Committees. (1) Other committees may be appointed 



428 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

from time to time, and in such manner as the Council shall deter- 
mine, to make report during the meeting at which they are ap- 
pointed. 

(2) On such committees any member of the Council, voting or 
honorary, is eligible for service. 

(3) All such committees terminate their existence with the 
meeting at which they are appointed. 

(4) No question or report will be referred to a committee except 
by vote of the Council. 

(5) Committees shall consist of five persons unless otherwise 
stated. 

(6) Unless otherwise ordered, the first named member of a 
committee shall be chairman. 

VIII— THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

1. The Executive Committee shall transact such business as the 
Council shall from time to time direct, and in the intervals between 
meetings of the Council shall represent the Council in all matters 
not belonging to the corporation and not otherwise provided for. 
They shall have authority to contract for all necessary expendi- 
tures and to appoint one or more of their number who shall ap- 
prove and sign all bills for payment; shall consult the interests 
of the Council and act for it in intervals between meetings in all 
matters of business and finance, subject to the approval of the 
Council; and shall make a full report of all their doings, the con- 
sideration of which shall be first in order of business after organi- 
zation. 

2. They may fill any vacancy occurring in their own number 
or in any commission, committee, or office in the intervals of meet- 
ing, the persons so appointed to serve until the next meeting of 
the Council. 

3. They shall appoint any committee or commission ordered by 
the Council, but not otherwise appointed; and committees or com- 
missions so appointed shall be entered in the minutes as by action 
of the Council. 

4. They shall select the place, and shall specify in the call the 
place and precise time at which each meeting of the Council shall 
begin. 

5. They shall provide a suitable form of voucher for the expendi- 
tures of the Council, and shall secure a proper auditing of its 
accounts. 

6. They shall prepare a definite program for the Council, choos- 
ing a preacher and selecting topics for discussion and persons to 
prepare and present papers thereon. 

7. They shall assign a distinct time, not to be changed except 
by special vote of the Council, for 

(a) The papers appointed to be read before the Council. 

(&) The commissions appointed by one Council to report at 
the next, which may present the topics referred to them for dis- 
cussion or action. 

(c) The benevolent societies and theological seminaries. 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 429 

All other business shall be set for other specified hours, and 
shall not displace the regular order, except by special vote of the 
Council. 

IX.— COMMISSIONS 

1. Special committees appointed to act ad interim, other than 
the Executive Committee and Nominating Committee, shall be 
designated as commissions. 

2. Commissions are expected to report at the next meeting fol- 
lowing their appointment, and no commission other than the Com- 
mission on Missions shall continue beyond the next stated meeting 
of the Council except by special vote of the Council. 

3. No commission shall incur expense except as authorized by 
the Council, or its Executive Committee. 

4. Any member in good standing of a Congregational church is 
eligible for service on any commission, or ad interim committee. 

5. Commissions shall choose their own chairmen, but the first 
named member shall call the first meeting and act as temporary 
chairman during the organization of the commission. 

X.— CONGREGATIONAL NATIONAL SOCIETIES 

With the consent of our National Missionary Societies, whose 
approval is a necessary preliminary, the following shall define the 
relation of these societies to the National Council: 

The foreign missionary work of the Congregational churches 
of the United States shall be carried on under the auspices of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the 
co-operating Woman's Boards of Missions; and the home mission- 
ary work of these churches, for the present under the auspices of 
the Congregational Home Missionary Society, the American Mis- 
sionary Association, the Congregational Education Society, the 
Congregational Church Building Society, and the Congregational 
Sunday School and Publishing Society, hereinafter called the Home 
Societies, and the Woman's Home Missionary Federation. 

1. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
This Board and the co-operating Woman's Boards shall be the 
agency of the Congregational churches for the extension of Christ's 
kingdom abroad. 

a. Membership. The voting membership of the American Board 
shall consist, in addition to the present life members, of two classes 
of persons, (a) One class shall be composed of the members of 
the National Council, who shall be deemed nominated as corporate 
members of the American Board by their election and certification 
as members of the said National Council, said nominations to be 
ratified and the persons so named elected by the American Board. 
Their terms as corporate members of the American Board shall 
end, in each case, when they cease to be members of the National 
Council, (b) There may also be chosen by the American Board 
one hundred and fifty corporate members-at-large. The said one 
hundred and fifty corporate members-at-large shall be chosen in 
three equal sections, and so chosen that the term of each section 
shall be ultimately six years, one section being chosen every second 
year at the meeting in connection with the meeting of the National 



430 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



Council. No new voting members, other than herein provided, 
shall be created. 

b. Officers and Committees. The officers and committees of the 
American Board shall be such as the Board itself may from time 
to time determine. 

c. Meetings. Regular meetings of the American Board shall be 
held annually. That falling in the same year in which the National 
Council holds its meeting shall be held in connection with the 
meeting of said Council. Meetings in other years shall be held at 
such time and place as the Board may determine. Important busi- 
ness, especially such as involves extensive modifications of policy, 
shall, so far as possible, be reserved for consideration in those 
meetings held in connection with the meeting of the National 
Council. 

d. Reports. It shall be the duty of the American Board to make 
a full and accurate report of its condition and work to the National 
Council at each stated meeting of that body. 

2. The Home Societies. These societies, with the Woman's Home 
Missionary Federation, shall be the agencies of the Congregational 
churches for the extension of Christ's kingdom in the United States. 

a. Membership. The voting membership of the several home 
societies shall consist, in addition to such existing life members 
and other members of the society in question as may be regarded 
as legally necessary, of two classes of persons. 

(a) One class shall be composed of the members of the Na- 
tional Council so long as they remain members of said Council. 

(&) There may also be chosen corporate members-at-large by 
the said societies, in the following numbers, viz.: by the Congre- 
gational Home Missionary Society, ninety; by the American Mis- 
sionary Association, sixty; by the Congregational Church Building 
Society, thirty; by the Congregational Education Society, eighteen; 
and by the Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society, 
eighteen. The said corporate members-at-large shall be chosen 
by each of the said societies in three equal sections and so chosen 
that the term of each section shall be ultimately six years, one 
section being chosen every second year at the meeting held in 
connection with the meeting of the National Council. In this selec- 
tion one-fifth of the said corporate members-at-large may be chosen 
from the organizations for the support of Congregational activities 
affiliated in the Woman's Home Missionary Federation. No new 
voting members, other than herein provided, shall be created by 
any society. 

b. Officers and Committees. The officers and committees of the 
several home societies shall be such as the societies themselves 
may from time to time determine. 

c. Meetings. Regular meetings of the Home Societies shall be 
held annually. Those falling in the same year in which the Na- 
tional Council holds its meeting shall be held in connection with 
the meeting of said Council. Meetings in other years shall be held 
at such times and places as the societies themselves may deter- 
mine. Important business, especially such as involves extensive 
modifications of policy, shall, so far as possible, be reserved for 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 431 

consideration in those meetings held in connection with the meet- 
ing of the National Council. 

d. Reports. It shall be the duty of each of the Home Societies 
to make a full and accurate report of its condition and work to 
the National Council at each stated meeting of that body. 

XL— THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 

1. On nomination by the standing committee on Nominations, 
the National Council shall elect fourteen persons, and on nomina- 
tion by the several national societies, home and foreign, shall also 
elect one person from each society, and on similar nomination one 
each from the whole body of Woman's Boards of Foreign Missions 
and from the Woman's Home Missionary Federation; who, to- 
gether with the Secretary of the National Council ex officio, shall 
constitute a Commission on Missions. 

2. Members. The members of the Commission on Missions shall 
be divided as nearly as possible into two equal sections in such 
manner that the term of each section shall be ultimately four 
years and the term of one section shall expire at each biennial 
meeting of the Council. In these choices due consideration shall 
be given to convenience of meeting, as well as to the geographical 
representation of the churches. No member except the Secretary 
of the National Council, whether nominated by the Standing Com- 
mittee on Nominations of the National Council or by the societies, 
who has served on said Commission for two full successive terms 
of four years each, shall be eligible for re-election until after two 
years shall have passed. Unpaid officers of any of the missionary 
societies of the churches shall be eligible to this Commission, but 
no paid officer or employee of a missionary society shall be eligible. 
The Commission shall choose its own chairman, and have power 
to fill any vacancy in its own number until the next stated meeting 
of the Council. 

3. Duties. While the Commission on Missions shall not be 
charged with the details of the administration of the several mis- 
sionary societies, it shall be its duty to consider the work of the 
home and foreign societies above named, to prevent duplication of 
missionary activities, to effect all possible economies in adminis- 
tration, and to seek to correlate the work of the several societies 
so as to secure the maximum of efficiency with the minimum of 
expense. It shall have the right to examine the annual budgets of 
the several societies and have access to their books and records. 
It may freely give its advice to the said societies regarding prob- 
lems involved in their work, and it shall make recommendations 
to the several societies when, in its judgment, their work can be 
made more efficient or economical. It shall make report of its 
action to the National Council at each stated meeting of that 
body, and present to said Council such recommendations as it may 
deem wise for the furtherance of the efficiency and economical 
administration of the several societies. In view of the evident 
conviction of a large portion of the churches that the multiplicity 
of the Congregational Home Societies is not consistent with the 
greatest economy and efficiency, the Commission on Missions shall 
examine present conditions and shall recommend to the National 
Council such simplification or consolidation as shall seem expedient. 



432 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

4. Expenses. The members of the Commission on Missions shall 
serve without salary. The necessary expenses of the Commission 
shall be paid from the treasury of the National Council, and said 
Council may limit the amount of expense which may be incurred 
in any year. All bills for payment shall be certified by the chair- 
man of the Commission. 

XII.— THE CORPORATION FOR THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 

1. The corporate members of the corporation shall consist of 
fifteen persons, elected by the Council at stated meetings, and of 
the Moderator and Secretary associated ex officiis with them. 

2. The terms for which corporate members are elected shall be 
fix years. 

3. The corporate members elected at the meeting of 1910 are 
divided into two classes of eight and seven respectively. The suc- 
cessors of the class of eight shall be chosen at the meeting of 1913 
and of the class of seven at the meeting of 1915. Those so elected 
shall hold office until their successors are duly elected. 

4. The corporation shall have a treasurer. He shall administer 
his office as the by-laws of the corporation may provide. 

5. The corporation shall receive and hold all property, real and 
personal, of the Council, and all property, real and personal, which 
may be conveyed to it in trust, or otherwise, for the benefit of 
Congregational churches or of any Congregational church; and 
acting for the Council between the meetings of the Council in all 
business matters not otherwise delegated or reserved, shall do such 
acts and discharge such trusts as properly belong to such a cor- 
poration and are in conformity to the constitution, rules, and in- 
structions of the Council. 

6. The corporation may adopt for its government and the man- 
agement of its affairs standing by-laws and rules not inconsistent 
with its charter nor with the constitution, by-laws, and rules of the 
Council. 

7. The corporation shall make such reports to the Council as 
the Council may require. 

XIII.— DEVOTIONAL AND OTHER SERVICES 

1. In the sessions of the National Council, half an hour every 
morning shall be given to devotional services, and the daily ses- 
sions shall be opened with prayer and closed with prayer or sing- 
ing. The evening sessions shall ordinarily be given to meetings of 
a specially religious rather than of a business character. 

2. The Council will seek to promote in its sessions a distinctly 
spiritual uplift, and to this end will arrange programs for the pres- 
entation of messages for the general public attending such gather- 
ings. But the first concern of the Council shall be the transaction 
of the business of the denomination so far as that shall be intrusted 
to it by the churches; and the Council will meet in separate or 
executive session during the delivery of addresses whenever the 
necessity of the business of the Council may appear to require it. 



THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 433 

XIV.— TIME LIMITATION 

No person shall occupy more than half an hour in reading any- 
paper or report, and no speaker upon any motion or resolution, or 
upon any paper read, shall occupy more than ten minutes, without 
the unanimous consent of the Council. 

In case of discussion approaching the time limit set for it, the 
Moderator may announce the limitation of speeches to less than 
ten minutes, subject to the approval of the Council. 

XV.— THE PRINTING OF REPORTS 

Such reports from commissions and statements from societies 
or theological seminaries as may be furnished to the Secretary 
seasonably in advance of the meeting may be printed at the dis- 
cretion of the Executive Committee, and sent to the members 
elect, together with the program prepared. Not more than ten 
minutes shall be given to the presentation of any such report. 

XVI.— THE PUBLICATION OF STATISTICS 

The Council will continue to make an annual compilation of 
statistics of the churches, and a list of such ministers as are re- 
ported by the several state organizations. The Secretary is directed 
to present at each stated meeting comprehensive and comparative 
summaries for the two years preceding. 

XVII.— FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER BODIES 

The Council, as occasion may arise, will hold communication 
with the general Congregational bodies of other lands, and with 
the general ecclesiastical organizations of other churches of evan- 
gelical faith in our own land, by delegates appointed by the Council 
or by the Executive Committee. 

XVIII.— TEMPORARY SUBSTITUTION 

A duly enrolled delegate may deputize any alternate duly ap- 
pointed by the body appointing the delegate to act for him at any 
session of the Council by special designation applicable to the ses- 
sion in question. 



XXV. THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 

Through What Agencies Do the Congregational 
Churches Conduct Their Benevolent and Missionary Work? 

The Congregational churches conduct their benevolent and 
missionary work through missionary societies variously 
organized. Some of these are entirely undenominational or 
interdenominational, such as the American Bible Society 
and the American Tract Society; others, which by their 
constitutions are undenominational, have become virtually 
denominational. This is true of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the American 
Missionary Association. Others, once undenominational, 
have now become denominational by change in their name 
and constitutions. Of these are the Congregational Home 
Missionary Society, formerly the American Home Mission- 
ary Society, and the Congregational Education Society, 
formerly the American College and Education Society. 
Still others grew out of the life of the denomination and, 
though in some cases there were changes in name, remain 
avowedly denominational agencies. Of these are the Con- 
gregational Church Building Society, formerly the Amer- 
ican Congregational Union; the Congregational Sunday 
School and Publishing Society; and the Congregational 
Board of Ministerial Relief, formerly the Trustees of the 
National Council. 

How Did the Interdenominational Societies Become 
Congregational? The interdenominational societies, such 
as the American Board, the American College and Educa- 
tion Society, American Home Missionary Society, and 
American Missionary Association, became virtually Con- 
gregational by the withdrawal of the Presbyterian, Dutch 
Reformed, and other denominations from their support, and 
the organization by these bodies of denominational societies 
for the doing of similar work. 

Did These Societies Occupy Distinct Fields of Activity? 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 435 

The several societies have come through mutual agreement 
and denominational control to something approaching dis- 
tinct fields of activity. As originally constituted, however, 
there was intentional overlapping. The American Mission- 
ary Association, for instance, was both a home and foreign 
missionary society, and grew out of a protest against certain 
policies of the American Board and American Home Mis- 
sionary Society. The experience of the years has resulted 
in a reduction of harmful competition and a thoroughly 
helpful understanding between the societies, but something 
still is left to be desired in the way of complete adjustment. 

When Was Consolidation of the Benevolent Societies 
First Considered? At the first meeting of the National 
Council, in Oberlin, in 1871, it was voted, 

In view of the number of existing organizations that collect 
contributions from our churches, some of which organizations are 
so closely affiliated in purpose and method that they contemplate 
essentially the same work; therefore, Resolved, that a committee 
of seven be appointed to consider and report at the next session 
of this Council whether any consolidation of said organizations 
is practicable, with a view to the promotion of greater unity and 
efficiency of operation, and the reduction of expenses that are felt 
to be needless and therefore burdensome. 

This resolution sounds very modern and might have 
been repeated verbatim by every Council since. Its key- 
notes of "economy" and "efficiency" were those to which the 
Boston Council thirty-nine years later attuned the resolu- 
tion that resulted in the appointment of the Commission 
of Nineteen on Polity. It is interesting to read the report 
of the committee adopted in 1874. 

Our present benevolent organizations were normal growths 
out of pressing necessities. . . . The wisdom of those who had 
the shaping of these organizations has been vindicated by the suc- 
cessful work accomplished. . . . Men have their favorite char- 
ities and . . . deprecate any change which is likely to touch 
the integrity of the organization in which their special interest is 
centered. . . . Other difficulties present themselves in the 
terms of incorporation of these societies, conditions on which trust 
funds are held, legacies in abeyance which may be forfeited, and 
various minor obstacles which need not be detailed at length. 
At the same time it is undeniable that there is a growing feeling 
in the churches that there might be an improvement in the chanties 
of the denomination. 



436 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

This also sounds very modern. The objections then 
urged against change, that the societies as they now exist 
have an honorable history, and each its own constituency, 
and that vested interests might conceivably be imperiled 
by change, are those still urged when change or combina- 
tion is suggested. The undeniable fact remains, however, 
that after something more than forty years of appointment 
of committees and commissions, the churches believe that 
a simpler, more efficient, and more economical method 
ought to be devised. 

Is the National Council Competent to Create a Benevo- 
lent Society? The National Council is competent to create 
as many benevolent societies as the Congregational churches 
desire to create and maintain through its agency. The 
organization incorporated March 24, 1885, as "The Trustees 
of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of 
the United States" is the creation of the National Council. 
It now is known as "The Congregational Board of Minis- 
terial Relief" and that name is confirmed by its new charter 
granted by the Legislature of Connecticut in January, 1907. 
The National Council is as competent to create a home or 
foreign missionary society as a society for ministerial relief. 
Indeed, the Council could with entire legality have carried 
on all these functions without any change whatever in the 
original charter of "The Trustees of the National Council." 
That charter as originally granted contained no intimation 
whatever that the work of the society thus organized was 
to be rectricted to ministerial relief. The terms of the 
original charter are as follows: 

Section 2. The object of the corporation is to do and promote 
charitable and Christian work for the advancement of the general 
interests of the Congregational churches of this country in accord- 
ance with resolutions and declarations made from time to time by 
the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United 
States; and said corporation may co-operate with any other soci- 
eties under the charge and control of churches of the Congrega- 
tional order in the United States. 

Section 3. Said corporation may acquire, by purchase, gift, 
devise, or otherwise, and hold and dispose of real and personal 
property for the purpose of its creation, not exceeding sixty thou- 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 437 

sand dollars in value, and may make any contracts for promoting 
its objects and purposes, not inconsistent with law. 

Section 4. The said National Council may make rules, orders 
and regulations for the government of said Board of Trustees, and 
said Board shall, at all times, be subject to the direction and 
control of said Council. 

The National Council, accepting the charter, voted as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the same be, and it is hereby, accepted by this 
Council. 

Resolved, That this National Council, by this act, constitutes 
and empowers its provisional committee for the time being as the 
Trustees incorporated by the foregoing act, who shall have in 
charge and administer all moneys and other values belonging to it, 
or which may be contributed, bequeathed, or intrusted to it, lim- 
ited only by their charter, the acts of this Council, or the expressed 
will of the donors. 

In 1907 the object and powers of the organization were 
modified and limited as follows: 

Section 4. The object of said corporation shall be to secure, 
hold, manage, and distribute funds for the relief of needy Congre- 
gational ministers and the needy families of deceased Congrega- 
tional ministers, in accordance with resolutions and declarations 
adopted or made, from time to time, by the National Council of 
the Congregational Churches of the United States, or by any body 
which may succeed to the present functions of that council; and 
said corporation may co-operate with any other corporation or 
body which is under the charge and control of churches of the 
Congregational order in the United States, or of churches at the 
time affiliated with said order. 

Section 5. The said National Council, or its successor as afore- 
said, may, from time to time, make and alter rules, orders, and 
regulations for the government of said corporation, and said cor- 
poration shall at all times be subject to its direction and control; 
and the said National Council or such successor thereof may, from 
time to time, determine who shall be members of said corporation, 
may provide for filling vacancies in their number, and may appoint 
and remove members thereof. 

There is nothing either in the Constitution of the 
National Council, or in the conditions governing the work 
of the denomination, to prevent the Council from creating 
a single new organization with powers as broad as those 
originally belonging to the Trustees of the National Council, 
or of incorporating one or more societies in any state or 
states of the Union for the doing of such work as the 



438 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

churches desire unitedly to accomplish through such organi- 
zations. 

What Is the American Board? The American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions is a corporation 
created by the Massachusetts legislature in 1812. It was 
organized by the Massachusetts Association at Bradford, 
Mass., on June 29, 1810, in response to a request from a 
group of students of Andover Theological Seminary who 
had pledged themselves for foreign missionary work. The 
inception of this movement may be attributed to Samuel 
John Mills, born in 1783, in Torringford, Conn., who entered 
Williams College in 1806 and graduated in 1809. In that 
institution he organized in 1808 a little association called 
The Brethren, "to effect in the person of its members a 
mission or missions to the heathen." 

The American Board has now been operated for more 
than one hundred years. Its drafts are honored by the 
banks of the remote nations of the Orient, and it has a 
record for fidelity and efficiency which make it easily the 
foremost of our denominational societies and keep it in the 
front rank of missionary organizations of the world. As 
originally constituted, the American Board was a close 
corporation, and still is technically a self-perpetuating body, 
but by its charter has been so modified that the National 
Council constitutes a large majority of its voting member- 
ship. 

What Is the Congregational Education Society? The 
Congregational Education Society originated in the organi- 
zation of the American Society for Educating Pious Youth 
for the Gospel Ministry, which was organized in Boston, 
December 7, 181 5, and which soon became the "American 
Education Society." For four years Congregationalists and 
Presbyterians co-operated in the work, but in 1819 the 
Presbyterian General Assembly organized a Board of Edu- 
cation, since which time the Educational Society has been 
distinctly Congregational. 

In 1843 there was organized in New York "the Society 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 439 

for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education 
at the West." The two were united in 1874 under the style 
of "American College and Education Society." In 1879 
there was organized in Chicago "The New West Education 
Commission," which in 1893 united with the Education 
Society, and the name became the Congregational Educa- 
tion Society. In its organization it was a self-perpetuating 
body, but like the other societies it is now controlled by 
the National Council. 

What Is the Home Missionary Society? The Congre- 
gational Home Missionary Society had its origin in New 
York on May 10, 1826, "in the American Home Missionary 
Society." This body succeeded the United Domestic Mis- 
sionary Society, organized in 1822. As thus constituted, it 
represented a union of effort of Presbyterians, Dutch 
Reformed and Congregationalists. The Congregational 
churches of Massachusetts and Connecticut had organized 
Home Missionary Societies which, at first working inde- 
pendently, came gradually into closer fellowship with the 
New York society. The division of the Presbyterian body 
in 1837 into the Old School and the New School parties 
left the American Home Missionary Society less Presby- 
terian and more Congregational than it previously had been. 
On May 27, 1861, the New School Presbyterians withdrew 
in favor of some distinctly denominational agency of their 
own, leaving the society wholly Congregational. In 1893 
its name was changed to the Congregational Home Mis- 
sionary Society. 

A Brief Outline of the History of Home Missions. Organized 
Home Missions in the United States began with the formation of 
the Connecticut Home Missionary Society, in 1798, followed by 
that of Massachusetts in 1799, after which the other New England 
States interested themselves in the sending of the Gospel to the 
new communities to the westward and formed similar organiza- 
tions. In 1826 the American Home Missionary Society was organ- 
ized in New York, originating in the contemporaneous initiative 
of the Massachusetts Society and an interdenominational organiza- 
tion in New York State and associating with it in affiliated rela- 
tionship the other state bodies. This corporation is now the Con- 
gregational Home Missionary Society. At the first Congregation- 



440 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 



alists were associated in it with the Presbyterian, the Reformed 
and the Associate Reformed churches. The latter two soon with- 
drew and at the dissolution of the Plan of Union such participa- 
tion of the Presbyterians as had not already been diverted was 
withdrawn and since that time this organization has been the 
agency of the Congregationalists, although independent of national 
organic relationship until the Kansas City meeting of the National 
Council. 

Beginning in New York and Vermont, the missionaries of this 
society have gone with the advancing front of settlement to every 
part of this nation. It has been the agency through which the 
Congregational church was saved from being a sectional com- 
munion or from being obliterated entirely. 

For a time all the work of promoting religion and Christian 
education fell to the Home Missionary Societies. Churches and 
Sunday Schools were planted, sanctuaries were provided, literature 
was supplied, schools and colleges were started, young men were 
prepared for the ministry. But in 1816 the need for ministers both 
in self-supporting churches and missionary fields occasioned the 
organization of the American Society for the Education of Pious 
Youth for the Gospel Ministry. This organization has absorbed 
two other societies whose work was to promote education, and is 
now the Congregational Education Society. In 1829 the Doctrinal 
Tract and Book Society, later called the Congregational Board of 
Publication, and in 1832 the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society 
were organized. Later these two merged to form the Congrega- 
tional Publishing Society which became the Congregational Sun- 
day School and Publishing Society in 1882. In 1852 the Albany 
Convention was impressed with the need of aggressive work in 
building churches and its committee, which at first worked largely 
through Home Missions, grew through the Congregational Union 
to the Church Building Society. In 1882 the Publishing Society 
began to function in planting Sunday Schools, and, finally in 1892 
the National Council appointed a Committee on Ministerial Relief 
for aiding needy ministers and their families. This has developed 
into the Board of Ministerial Relief. Thus the forces which went 
single handed to the task of Christianizing America in 1798, have 
gradually shared functions with associates until the call has arisen 
for co-ordination. 

Since the organization of the National Society in 1826 the 
receipts of the Society have amounted to $27,970,123.52 and 76,374 
years of labor have been performed by its missionaries. No man 
can measure the spiritual forces which have issued from these 
years of devotion. — Secy. Chas. E. Burton, in Report at National 
Council, 1915. 

What Is the American Missionary Association? The 

American Missionary Association was organized in 1846 

and was intended to be both a home and foreign missionary 

society. In 1854 it had 79 missionaries in foreign lands, 

including Africa, Jamaica, Sandwich Islands, Siam, Egypt 

and Canada. In so far as its work duplicated that of the 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 441 

American Board, it was intended to give expression to the 
anti-slavery sentiment strongly dominant in the churches 
that supported it. Subsequently it transferred its foreign 
missionary work to the American Board and took over the 
Board's work for the American Indians. It has borne a 
noble testimony against caste and race prejudice, and has 
done a notable work in education and church extension 
among Negroes, Indians, Chinese, the Highlanders of the 
Southern mountains, and also in Alaska, Porto Rico and 
Hawaii. In its organization it is broadly democratic, every 
contributing church being entitled to elect a voting delegate 
to the annual meeting. 

What Is the Congregational Sunday School and Pub- 
lishing Society? The Congregational Sunday School and 
Publishing Society springs from the union of several organ- 
izations, the oldest of which was the Massachusetts Sab- 
bath School Union, organized in May, 1825. This was in 
the beginning an interdenominational organization, but in 
1832 became distinctively Congregational. It was incor- 
porated in 1840 as the Massachusetts Sabbath School So- 
ciety. The American Doctrinal Tract Society was organ- 
ized in Taunton, Mass., June 24, 1829, and incorporated 
March 16, 1850. This became in 1854 the Congregational 
Board of Publication. On March 9, 1868, these two organi- 
zations were consolidated by the act of the Massachusetts 
legislature into the Congregational Sabbath School and 
Publishing Society. In 1870 the name was changed to the 
Congregational Publishing Society. In that year the Soci- 
ety for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge disbanded 
and transferred its assets to the Congregational Publishing 
Society. On February 21, 1883, the name was changed to 
the Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society. 
Its- voting membership, which has been confined to those 
constituted life members by payment of $20, in 1892 added 
a delegate membership representing state bodies and Con- 
gregational churches. The society conducts two distinct 
departments, one for publication and the other for mis- 



442 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

sionary work, the funds of the two being deposited in sep- 
arate banks. It establishes Sunday schools and encourages 
their growth into churches ; it publishes Sunday school and 
other religious literature and owns and publishes "The 
Congregationalism" "The Pilgrim Teacher," "The Well 
Spring," and other periodicals. 

What Is the Congregational Church Building Society? 
The Congregational Church Building Society was founded 
in 1853. It is incorporated under the laws of the State of 
New York and is a self-perpetuating body. It has assisted 
in the erection of more than 4,000 church buildings and 
1,200 parsonages. It gives financial aid in two forms, both 
loan and grant, securing the same by trust mortgages on 
the property, with the provision that should the same cease 
to be used for Congregational church purposes, the churches 
shall be reimbursed for the money which they have con- 
tributed through this society. 

What Is the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief? 
The Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief is the one 
missionary organization created by the National Council. 
This corporation was chartered by the legislature of Con- 
necticut, March 24, 1885, as "The Trustees of the National 
Council of the Congregational Churches of the United 
States." Its charter was sufficiently broad so that it could 
have conducted under that form of organization any kind 
of missionary work which the National Council might have 
chosen to perform for the Congregational churches. The 
title was confusing since the society undertook to do only 
one form of missionary work, and there was some prospect 
that the Council itself might desire incorporation on its 
own account, or at least to create a corporation acting for 
it in other relations than that for which this body existed. 
On March 27, 1907, the name was changed by action of the 
Connecticut legislature to the Congregational Board of Min- 
isterial Relief. It is an organization which exists for the 
aid of aged and needy ministers and their dependent fam- 
ilies. 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 443 

What Are the Women's Societies? There are three 
Women's Boards for foreign missionary work: The 
Woman's Board of Missions, incorporated in Massachu- 
setts; the Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior, in- 
corporated in Illinois; the Woman's Board of Missions of 
the Pacific, incorporated in California. Each co-operates 
with the American Board and collects money through 
branches and auxiliaries and supports missionaries as teach- 
ers, evangelists, physicians and nurses. These missionaries 
are commissioned as missionaries of the American Board. 
The receipts of these three organizations have amounted in 
some years to more than a third of a million. 

The Woman's Home Missionary Federation was organ- 
ized in May, 1905, and is the only strictly national organi- 
zation of Congregational women. There are thirty-three 
State Unions federated in this body, each of them being 
autonomous in its own territory, and each raising funds for 
the support of the Home Missionary societies, both state 
and national. The Federation represents the women of our 
Congregational churches on the Executive Committees of 
those of the national missionary bodies that admit women. 

What Is the American Congregational Association? 
The American Congregational Association is an organiza- 
tion created in 1853, and chartered by the legislature of 
Massachusetts in 1854, which owns the Congregational 
House in Boston and maintains the Congregational Library. 

What Was the Commission of Nineteen? The Com- 
mission of Nineteen on Polity was appointed by the Na- 
tional Council at Boston in 1910 "to formulate a consistent 
and practical scheme of administration, and to submit to 
the next Council a constitution and by-laws which embody 
their judgment." The Commission held a number of meet- 
ings, and at Kansas City in 1913 submitted a new constitu- 
tion for the National Council, which was adopted with great 
heartiness. 

What Is the Commission on Missions? The Commis- 
sion on Missions is a body created by the National Council, 



444 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

consisting of fourteen members and one additional member 
from each of the Societies, with one from the Woman's 
Boards and one from the Women's Home Missionary Fed- 
eration, with the Secretary of the National Council. Their 
powers are described in By-Law XI of the National Council. 
What Changes in the Missionary Societies Were 
Wrought at Kansas City? The National Council at Kansas 
City in 1913 changed its constitution so that with corre- 
sponding changes in the constitutions of the several mis- 
sionary societies the voting members of the National 
Council now constitute a majority of the voting members 
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, the Congregational Home Missionary Society, the 
American Missionary Association, the Congregational Sun- 
day School and Publishing Society, the Congregational 
Church Building Society, the Congregational Education 
Society, and the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief. 

The voting membership of the American Board shall consist, in 
addition to the present life members, of two classes of persons. 

(a) One class shall be composed of the members of the National 
Council, who shall be deemed nominated as corporate members of 
the American Board by their election and certification as members 
of the said National Council, said nominations to be ratified and 
the persons so named elected by the American Board. Their terms 
as corporate members of the American Board shall end, in each 
case, when they cease to be members of the National Council. 

(b) There may also be chosen by the American Board one hun- 
dred and fifty corporate members-at-large. The said one hundred 
and fifty corporate members-at-large shall be chosen in three equal 
sections, and so chosen that the term of each section shall be ulti- 
mately six years, one section being chosen every second year at 
the meeting in connection with the meeting of the National Coun- 
cil. No new voting members, other than herein provided, shall be 
created. 

There may also be chosen corporate members-at-large by the 
said societies, in the following numbers, viz.: by the Congregational 
Home Missionary Society, ninety; by the American Missionary 
Association, sixty; by the Congregational Church Building Society, 
thirty; by the Congregational Education Society, eighteen; and by 
the Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society, eighteen. 
The said corporate members-at-large shall be chosen by each of the 
said societies in three equal sections and so chosen that the term 
of each section shall be ultimately six years, one section being 
chosen every second year at the meeting held in connection with 
the meeting of the National Council. In this selection one-fifth of 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 445 

the said corporate members-at-large may be chosen from the 
organizations for the support of Congregational activities affiliated 
in the Woman's Home Missionary Federation. No new voting 
members, other than herein provided, shall be created by any 
society. — By-Laws of the National Council, art. x. 

What Changes in the Societies Were Accomplished in 
1915? The National Council in session in New Haven in 
1915 adopted a report submitted by the Commission on 
Missions, whose essential parts are given below. The prac- 
tical results of this plan are as follows: 

(1) The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions is not affected by this plan. 

(2) The Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief 
and its Corporation for the Annuity Fund are not affected 
by this plan. 

(3) The American Missionary Association is not affected 
excepting that the work of its white churches is transferred 
to the Congregational Home Missionary Society. 

(4) For practical operation the work of establishing 
and maintaining Sunday Schools, of planting and assisting 
missionary churches, and of aiding in the erecting of church 
buildings and parsonages, is to be unified and regarded as 
a continuous process under the direction of what now are 
to be known as the Church Extension Boards. 

(5) The educational work of the Sunday Schools and 
Publishing Society, including education through the printed 
page, is to be merged with that of the Congregational Edu- 
cation Society, in what are to be known as Religious Educa- 
tion Boards. 

(6) All the societies affected by this merger are to retain 
their corporate existence, with their charters as heretofore, 
but are to change their constitutions or by-laws so as to 
carry these modifications into effect. 

(7) The Congregational Sunday School and Publishing 
Society is now to become The Congregational Publishing 
Society, the business and missionary interests being cared 
for by separate societies. 

The Plan of Readjustment. The essential parts of the report 



446 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USA GE 

of the Commission on Missions relating to the readjustment of our 
missionary societies, adopted at New Haven in 1915, as follow: 

Ministerial Relief. The status of the Congregational Board of 
Ministerial Relief remains unchanged. This corporation has a 
Board of Directors of fifteen members elected by the National 
Council. The Annuity Fund for Congregational Ministers is ad- 
ministered by the Board of Ministerial Relief. 

American Missionary Association. The present status of the 
American Missionary Association remains unchanged. The Asso- 
ciation is administered by an executive committee of fifteen mem- 
bers elected in five classes for a term of three years. Its mission- 
ary church work among white people is transferred to the Con- 
gregational Home Missionary Society. 

The Church Extension Boards. This group consists of the Con- 
gregational Home Missionary Society, the Congregational Church 
Building Society, and the work of establishing and maintaining 
mission Sunday schools now carried on by the Congregational Sun- 
day School and Publishing Society. This Sunday School Extension 
work shall be conducted under the name Congregational Sunday 
School Society, and, if deemed expedient, may be incorporated for 
the purpose of holding property and receiving legacies and other 
gifts. The income of funds and other assets of the Congregational 
Sunday School and Publishing Society which may have been given 
for the establishment and maintenance of mission Sunday schools 
shall be made available for the work as carried on under the new 
administration. 

It is understood that the question of the transfer of the Sunday 
School Extension work of the S. S. & P. S. from that society to 
the group thus constituted is to be referred to the Directors of the 
Religious Education Boards in conference with the Directors of the 
Church Extension Boards and the Commission on Missions, these 
Directors being under instructions to arrange the transfer if the 
way be open. In any case the Commission is instructed to make 
report on the whole matter to the next Council. 

(1) These three Societies, viz.: The Congregational Home Mis- 
sionary Society, the Congregational Church Building Society and 
the Congregational Sunday School Society, shall have in common 
the following officers: President, Vice-Presidents, and Treasurer. 
The three societies shall be managed by a common Board of Direc- 
tors of not more than thirty-six members. The Directors elected 
to serve for the years 1915-17 shall be named by the nominating 
committee of the National Council and elected by the members of 
the respective societies. They will assume responsibility when the 
resignations of their predecessors shall have been received. Prior 
to the next biennial meeting of the Council, each state Conference 
in which Congregational work is sufficiently advanced to justify its 
recognition by the National Council as an administrative unit, shall 
have the right to submit to the nominating committee of the Na- 
tional Council, which shall serve as the nominating committee for 
each of the societies in question, the names of two candidates, a 
minister and a layman, from which nomination an election of one 
director shall be made. At the expiration of the term a successor 
shall be chosen in the same manner. All directors shall be elected 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 447 

by the societies at the biennial meetings held in connection with the 
meetings of the National Council. At the meeting of the societies 
in 1917, the directors shall be divided as nearly as possible into 
three equal sections in such manner that the term of each section 
shall ultimately be six years, and the term of one section shall ex- 
pire at each biennial meeting of the Council. The Board of Direc- 
tors shall have power to fill vacancies in its own number until the 
next regular meeting of the National Council. 

(2) Between the meetings of the Board of Directors the work 
of this group of societies shall be under the immediate supervision 
of an executive committee, appointed by the Board of Directors, of 
not more than fifteen persons, a majority of whom shall be mem- 
bers of the Board. This committee shall hold regular monthly 
meetings and as many special meetings as may be deemed neces- 
sary. The actions of each session of the Executive Committee shall 
be submitted for approval to the Board of Directors. 

(3) There shall be a common general secretary. The first elec- 
tion shall be by the Board of Directors on nomination by the Nom- 
inating Committee of the National Council. In 1917 and thereafter, 
the general secretary shall be elected at the biennial meeting on 
nomination of the Board of Directors. He shall have resonsible 
executive leadership of the entire work of the societies thus 
grouped. There shall be as many additional secretaries and other 
officers as may be found necessary. 

(4) The activities of the societies thus grouped shall cover the 
field as indicated by their names, of church planting and mainte- 
nance of aiding in building churches and parsonages and organizing 
and fostering mission Sunday schools. The Board will organize 
this work as shall be found expedient. 

(5) The main offices of the Church Extension Boards shall be 
in New York. If deemed advisable, there may also be offices in 
Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. 

It is recommended that the officers associated with the district 
offices represent the total work of this group of societies, and that 
they shall present to their respective constituencies a unified appeal 
on behalf of the three great interests which they represent. 

(6) All three societies are to appear in the denominational 
benevolence calendar, and there shall continue to be a separate 
apportionment for each. It is expected that this arrangement will 
be modified as experience may suggest. 

The Religious Education Boards. (1) Upon the transfer of the 
Sunday school work, as herein provided, the name of the Congrega- 
tional Sunday School and Publishing Society is to be changed to 
the Congregational Publishing Society, and that the features of its 
work hitherto known as educational be assigned to the Congrega- 
tional Educational Society. The functions of the Congregational 
Publishing Society will thus be exclusively those of a denomina- 
tional publishing house, viz.: editing, manufacturing, and marketing 
Sunday school helps, books, periodicals, etc., of such nature and 
variety as may be deemed expedient. 

(2) The two societies just named are to be placed under a com- 
mon management as outlined below, the activities of each organ- 



448 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ization being kept distinct but so co-ordinated under a unified pol- 
icy as that they shall move together to the attainment of the com- 
mon ends for which both exist. 

(3) The total field of religious education as covered by these 
two organizations through the printed page and otherwise will in- 
clude comprehensively the following functions: 

(a) Sunday school education through use of printed helps 
and field specialists. 

(b) General religious education including any type of aid 
needed by pastors and churches for training in Christian his- 
tory, doctrine, worship, denominational polity, plans, etc. 

(c) Social Service. It is contemplated that this specialized 
feature of religious education shall receive due emphasis. 

(d) Education in Missions. This will have primary reference 
to the training of the young in knowledge of the world wide 
operations of the Church. 

(e) Editing, manufacturing and marketing such printed mat- 
ter as will be required under above heads, together with such 
books and newspapers as the denomination desires to pro- 
duce. 

(f) Student Welfare. This will be a continuation of work 
now conducted by the Education Society for students in col- 
leges, seminaries and universities. 

(g) College Aid. This refers to the leadership and emer- 
gency aid given by the Education Society to colleges in the 
newer part of the country. 

(4) This group of societies shall have in common the following 
officers: President, Vice-Presidents, and Treasurer. The societies 
shall be managed by a common Board of Directors of not to exceed 
twenty-four members. These directors shall be nominated by the 
nominating committee of the National Council, acting as the nomi- 
nating committee of each of the societies concerned, except that at 
the meeting of the societies in 1917 and thereafter the American 
Board, the American Missionary Association and the Church Ex- 
tension Boards respectively shall each have the right to nominate 
one director. The directors shall be elected by the societies at the 
biennial meetings held in connection with the meetings of the Na- 
tional Council. The directors elected to serve for 1915-17 shall as- 
sume responsibility when the resignations of their predecessors 
shall have been received. At the meeting of the societies in 1917 
the directors shall be divided as nearly as possible into three equal 
sections in such manner that the term of each section shall ulti- 
mately be six years, and the term of one section shall expire at 
each biennial meeting of the Council. In the selection of the direc- 
tors due regard shall be had for geographical distribution as well 
as for convenience of meetings. The Board of Directors shall have 
power to fill vacancies in its own number until the regular meeting 
of the National Council. 

(5) There shall be a common general secretary. The first elec- 
tion shall be by the Board of Directors on nomination by the Nomi- 
nating Committee of the National Council. In 1917 and thereafter, 
the general secretary shall be elected at the biennial meeting on 
nomination of the Board of Directors. He shall have responsible 



THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES 449 

executive leadership of the entire work of the societies thus 
grouped. There shall be as many additional secretaries and other 
officers as may be found necessary. 

(6) It should be added that it is a part of the thought of the 
Commission that the denominational publishing house should at- 
tract to itself the bulk of the printing of the denominational 
agencies. The National Council will recommend what disposition 
shall be made of profits not required for additions to capital or for 
equipment. 

(7) The Congregational Education Society will retain its pres- 
ent place in the denominational benevolence calendar. 

(8) The main offices of the Religious Educational Boards shall 
be in Boston. If deemed expedient there may also be offices in 
New York, Chicago and San Francisco. 

Relation to State Conferences. The Commission believes that 
there are no recommendations contained in this report that are not 
capable of such satisfactory adjustment to state interests as will 
insure cordial co-operation between the State Conferences and the 
National Societies. It may be added that no change is contem- 
plated in the arrangement as to division of receipts now in force 
between the national and state home mission organizations. 

The term of directorship in both the home missions and educa- 
tion boards is six years. 

The Societies Needed to Be Under Control of the Denomina- 
tion. So there came into existence one after another the mission- 
ary agencies which are now identified with Congregationalism. 
They have wrought on our behalf and wrought with conspicuous 
success. In every field of mission effort we have been pioneers 
and standard bearers. The sum of their achievements constitutes 
a noble chapter in our annals. So honorable is the record that one 
has no difficulty in believing that the fathers did the wise thing 
for their place and time. 

None the less so long as two generations ago there began to 
be dissatisfaction with the plan. The Albany Convention of 1852 
was in the nature of a protest against the home mission policies 
in vogue. The first triennial Council in 1871 pondered long on the 
organization of its missionary agencies. And the Council which 
met at New Haven in 1874 had before it a report on missionary 
readjustment only less bulky than the one which is laid before 
you at this session. So it has been during all the intervening 
years. What is the meaning of it? Why have the churches not 
been content with the substantial achievements which have been 
described? The answer may be phrased in various ways. But the 
kernel of it is in the fact that like all things human these admin- 
istrative undertakings had an admixture of frailty and failure for 
whose prevention or cure the churches were helpless save by the 
disastrous method of withdrawing support. Moreover, it came to 
be felt that ours, the most democratic of organizations, was main- 
taining the most autocratic of agencies — autocratic not because of 
the intention or desire of their managers but because of the neces- 
sities of the situation. Naturally the question arose whether there 
was anything in the nature of the case which required the con- 
tinuance of such an anomaly. — Herring: Report of Secy, of Nat. 
Council, New Haven, Oct., 1915. 



XXVI. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 

Can Democracy Be Representative? Democracy can be 
representative, and if democracy is to obtain in any large 
way it must be representative. In a local town meeting 
every citizen may be present and participate actively in the 
proceedings. Even in a town meeting, however, the voter 
exercises something of a representative function. Usually 
the entire population is not present, but only the adult male 
population. A democracy in which only men vote, or only 
adults vote, is in the nature of the case representative. But 
even if it were possible or wise to gather all the inhabitants, 
men, women and children, into a meeting for the deter- 
mination of matters of common concern, it is manifest that 
democracy in this simplest form could never be larger than 
parochial. Even so small a territory as a county must have 
representative government if it is to be governed demo- 
cratically. The entire population of a state could never be 
assembled in one spot to do its business through mass meet- 
ing; and if that could be done no hall could be found in 
which they could be seated and hear each other's discussion. 

Representation, therefore, is not merely consistent with 
democracy, but essential to it. The term "representative 
democracy" is comparatively new in the literature of Con- 
gregationalism, but the principle is not new. It is as funda- 
mentally inherent in the idea of a council called for the 
ordination of a pastor as it is in the National Council itself. 
A committee of three appointed to buy shingles for the 
meeting house and authorized to purchase spruce or cedar 
according to their best discretion and the condition of the 
shingle market, is as thoroughly illustrative of all the princi- 
ples involved in representative government as the District 
Association or the State Conference. 

Congregationalists long shirked the inevitable logic of 
their own plan of organization. For many years they were 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 451 

content to do the larger work of the denomination through 
bodies in which the churches were not directly represented. 
The new order of things is not less democratic than the old ; 
it is more so. It is nothing more nor less than fundamental 
democracy applied through the representative system to 
affairs of state or national magnitude. The whole trend of 
Congregational development since the Albany Convention 
in 1852, to go no farther back, has been in the direction of 
the frank recognition of this principle in our denominational 
life. To that principle our denomination is now committed, 
not only by the Constitution of the National Council but 
by the inexorable logic of all our recent history. 

The World Moves Toward Democracy. The drift of the world 
is irresistibly toward popular rights in their free and equal exercise. 
Even Romanism silently floats that way. And there will be neither 
retrocession nor retrograde. The oak never can go back into its 
acorn. A thousand years hence will find every polity, however 
named, honeycombed with the democratic element. All the other 
polities will "make obeisance" to our "sheaf." If there be a Pope 
then, he will be so only in name, while his people will govern them- 
selves and him. I will not say that Congregationalism will have 
nothing to change to fit itself for the millennium, but I may say 
with all my heart, it can only need to perfect itself in the line of 
its own philosophy, and be all which its own normal possibilities 
suggest, to fit it for the fullness of that brighter day. I believe it 
is the only polity of which as much can be truly said. — Dexter: 
Handbook, p. 135. 

Democratic Liberty. The imperishable contribution of Con- 
gregationalism to American life has been its liberation of the same 
from all bondage to ecclesiasticism. Liberty in America has been 
identified from the beginning with liberty of worship, liberty of 
conscience, liberty of soul. That this is the case is due to the 
nature of its first immigrants. The most subtle bondage, and the 
most inevitable refuge of false authority in the State is bound up 
with religious bondage. When that was shaken off by the high 
simplicity of the Congregational principle, the peculiar quality of 
American democracy was rendered possible. 

As it happens, the distinctive message of Congregationalism 
today is one concerning intellectual liberty. It is less sectarian 
than the sects to the right of it or to the left of it. It insists on 
equal liberty for the men of conservative and the men of progres- 
sive temper. Like all liberty that is efficient, it recognizes its 
limits. Liberty in the Congregational fellowship is limited by 
immeasurable reverence before Jesus Christ. It does not seek to 
disguise its unqualified Christian faith and hope. But all who "say 
that Jesus is Lord" it recognizes with Paul as being under the 
sway of the Holy Spirit. It insists upon nothing which is indif- 



452 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ferent to that Spirit and includes all who have been divinely blessed 
with this supreme insight. Its fellowship is the richest and most 
varied in the religious world, because it is consciously based upon 
a profound distinction between the one thing needful and the many 
things interesting, important and serviceable. — Ambrose W. Vernon. 

Democracy and Solidarity. It remains for Congregationalism 
to show that the freedom of the State is not inconsistent with 
the obligations of international brotherhood; that a free education 
and loyalty to the truth which alone can make men free can go 
hand in hand; that a free church can co-exist as a part of that one 
Catholic Church which has one spirit but many members; and that 
the free approach of the soul to God does not exclude that cor- 
porate fellowship and communion which binds all Christ's people 
together in one body. 

If the message of the past to America has been freedom, the 
message of the present is perfect harmony of that freedom with 
the higher solidarity toward which the whole creation moves and 
for which it groans. — Raymond Calkins. 

Representative Democracy. Representative government in 
counties is necessitated by the extent of territory covered; in 
cities, it is necessitated by the multitude of people. — John Fiske: 
Civil Government in the United States, p. 101. 

The Congregational churches, having their county, city, national 
and world-wide life, have been forced to develop forms of repre- 
sentative or indirect democracy. This is not subversive of our 
original character or destructive of Congregational principles. Our 
safety lies in preserving in local affairs the direct action of the pri- 
mary assembly. We do not substitute representative democracy; 
we add it and assign it its own secondary realm. We constitute 
and direct it from below. — Nash: Cong. Administration, pp. 19-20. 

Representative Government May Be Democratic. Laws they 
are not therefore which public approbation hath not made so. But 
approbation not only they give who personally declare their assent 
by voice, sign or act, but also when others do it in their names by 
right originally at least derived from them. As in parliaments, 
councils, and the like assemblies, although we be not personally 
ourselves present, notwithstanding our assent is by reason of 
other agents there in our behalf. And what we do by others, no 
reason but that it should stand as our deed, no less effectually to 
bind us than if ourselves had done it in person. — Hooker: Ecclesias- 
tical Polity, Bk. I. 

What Was the Tri-Church Union Discussion? The 
National Council at Des Moines in 1904 took action "favor- 
able to closer union of the Methodist Protestant, United 
Brethren, and Congregational denominations," and gave to 
its Committee on Comity, Federation and Unity, of which 
Rev. Dr. William Hayes Ward was chairman, authority 
to negotiate with those bodies, looking toward such closer 
union. Other actions provided for the election of delega- 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 453 

tions and the first meeting of a General Council of the 
three denominations. Such a council, in which the Con- 
gregational churches were represented by no delegates, 
including many of the prominent leaders of the denomina- 
tion, convened at Dayton, Ohio, February 7-9, 1906. A 
second General Council met in Chicago, March 19-21, to 
hear the reports of three committees of twenty-one each on 
doctrine, polity and vested interests. The Chicago meeting 
approved a "Plan of Union" and this was commended to 
the churches by a committee consisting of Rev. Messrs. 
Washington Gladden, Wm. Douglas Mackenzie and Asher 
Anderson. The matter came up for extended discussion at 
Cleveland in 1907 and the following resolutions reported by 
a Committee of Twenty-eight, of which Rev. Nehemiah 
Boynton was chairman, and Rev. William E. Barton, sec- 
retary, read as follows : 

We recognize in the Act of Union adopted by the General 
Council of the United Churches at Chicago the fundamental prin- 
ciples by which such union must be accomplished. The aim of that 
act is the desire of our churches. The act provides for a repre- 
sentative council of the united churches, combines their benevolent 
activities, and conserves their vested interests. It makes provision 
for the gradual amalgamation of their state and local organizations, 
leaving the people of each locality free to choose their own times 
and methods for the completion of such unions. It contemplates, 
as the result of a continued fellowship of worship and work, a 
blending of the three denominations into one. This is the end to 
which the Act of Union looks forward, and these are essential 
means of its accomplishment. 

We recognize that, for the consummation of this union, each 
denomination is prepared to modify its administrative forms. 
Among our ministers and churches there have arisen divergent 
opinions both as to the interpretation of certain clauses and as to 
the effect of certain provisions in the Act of Union; while of some 
details therein proposed important criticisms have been made. 

We recognize, further, that the other church bodies, when they 
convene for consideration of the Act of Union, may likewise find 
that certain of its features can be improved. 

We, therefore, invite the other two denominations to unite with 
us in referring the Act of Union to the General Council of the 
United Churches, to afford opportunity for perfecting the plan of 
union; the General Council to report its results to the national 
body of each denomination. — Minutes of National Council, 1907, 
pp. 364-365. 

The other two denominations did not continue the nego- 



454 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

tiations beyond this point, and the Tri-Church Union, 
which nominally is still in existence and subject to call, 
ceased active existence. The matter is notable not only as 
constituting an interesting chapter in our denominational 
history, but also has an important bearing upon our own 
denominational life. During the period of discussions some 
Congregational writers and speakers pointed out with clear- 
ness and insistence that all we hoped to gain in the way 
of more compact organization could be obtained by us with- 
out the sacrifice, which the author of this volume charac- 
terized as "denominational suicide." The agreement of 
Congregationalists upon a tentative platform which might 
have served as a possible basis of union with other denom- 
inations, did much to crystallize sentiment within the de- 
nomination itself in favor of a more effective organization of 
the denomination for the doing of its own work. It is this 
influence upon our own denominational development which 
gives the movement a place in this chapter. 

Is Congregationalism Representative? The most impor- 
tant effect of the reorganization effected in the National 
Council in 1913 was not the adoption of a new set of rules, 
however important or unimportant these may prove to be, 
nor the formulation of a new doctrinal statement, however 
useful or useless that may prove, nor yet the changes 
wrought in the administration of the missionary societies, 
all of which are subject to change, and some of which are 
practically certain to be changed. The really important 
thing done at Kansas City was the recognition of the repre- 
sentative principle by the churches, expressed through the 
National Council and the societies, a controlling majority 
henceforth to be chosen by the churches, either directly or 
through agencies in which the representative principle is 
recognized. This change, also, lies at the heart of recent 
reorganization in our state societies, which, one by one, 
have taken over in the name of the churches activities 
formerly delegated to voluntary organizations. Congrega- 
tionalism is conscious of a real denominational autonomy; 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 455 

the autonomy of the local church, independent within its 
sphere; the autonomy of district and state bodies through 
which the churches effect their united work and fellowship ; 
and the autonomy of our national church organization, the 
National Council, and the societies, a controlling majority 
of whose voting members are members of the National 
Council. We are, what the preamble of the National 
Council affirms, a representative democracy. 

The Representative Principle Declared. With this view of the 
Congregational order as representative, and not purely independ- 
ent, your Committee unite in the judgment that local, state, and 
national associations afford ample organization for the direction 
of all of our denominational activities, and that the function of 
these organizations may be inclusive of all such interests, not 
imperiling but directly safeguarding the autonomy and liberty of 
the local church. Believing, therefore, that in the interest of 
simplicity, unity and efficiency our organism should be representa- 
tive, we urge the elimination of all such organizations as are not 
under the direction of our representative bodies. — Report of the 
Com. on Polity, Nat. Council, 1907. 

The Representative Principle Affirmed. The Congregational 
Churches of the United States, by delegates in National Council 
assembled, reserving all the rights and cherished memories belong- 
ing to this organization under its former Constitution, and declar- 
ing the steadfast allegiance of the churches composing the Council 
to the faith which our fathers confessed, which from age to age 
has found its expression in the historic creeds of the Church uni- 
versal and of this Communion, and affirming our loyalty to the 
basic principles of our representative democracy, hereby set forth 
the things most surely believed among us concerning faith, polity 
and fellowship. — Preamble to the Constitution of the National 
Council. 

Popular Sovereignty and Representative Unity. We must hold 
certainly to the sovereignty of the people under Christ in our 
Church organization. We cannot go back upon that, either in 
Church or State. But we need not hold it in a sense which 
endangers the larger interests of the Church of God. We cer- 
tainly need not hold it in a sense that is antagonistic to repre- 
sentative government, for democracy is not annulled but rather 
more effectively expressed, through representative government. — 
Meredith Davis: Congregationalism and Its Ideal, Constructive 
Quarterly, Sept., 1915, pp. 550, 551. 

Congregationalism the Mother of the Nation. Historically it 
was the mother of the nation. The seed principle of a Congrega- 
tional church is the republican principles of the State. And being 
itself a democracy, its natural training of its members is as much 
better to the use of making them good citizens for the nation, as 
the discipline of a merchant ship is kindlier than that of a machine 



456 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

shop, in fitting sailors for the uses of a man-of-war. In educating 
its members to think for themselves, a Congregational church edu- 
cates them to be intelligent voters in the State. In schooling them 
to accept and discharge more or less weighty responsibilities, it 
prepares them with some good fidelity to bear the burdens of the 
commonwealth. To say that the aristocratic or monarchic polities 
especially befit the American idea of the State, is to proclaim 
grapes of thorns and prophesy figs of thistles. — Dexter: Handbook, 
pp. 131, 132. 

Is Congregationalism Necessarily Provincial? Early 
Congregationalism was not merely provincial; it was paro- 
chial. More than that, it was almost individual. This is 
not to be said to its shame ; it is rather an occasion of glory. 
It recovered to the local church and to the individual soul 
the rights that belonged to them. The soul is sovereign; 
it is in bondage to no other soul or collection of souls. The 
local church is supreme in the management of its own 
affairs; it needs no overlord, and will tolerate none. 

But the time came when Congregationalism had to think 
in larger units than those of the local church. Nobly it rose 
to this effort on its spiritual side. It learned to pray "Thy 
kingdom come" with the map of the world spread out before 
its eyes. But on the side of organization it did not readily 
learn to think in permanent units larger than those of the 
local organization. 

Even in local matters it was difficult for Congregation- 
alism to think of the church as doing its own work in its 
own name. It has been a serious loss to Congregationalism 
that it has supposed it must do practically all its work in 
the name of some organization apart from the churches. 
Thus the local church did not really manage its own affairs, 
but depended on a parish, or an ecclesiastical society, a fifth 
wheel if ever a coach had one. The State Conference did 
not dream of such a thing as doing directly the united work 
of the churches within the state ; it organized a State Home 
Missionary Society, even though it was composed of pre- 
cisely the same persons, and met at the same time and 
place; it was a needless and really uncongregational way 
of doing it. Even now there are good people who fear to 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 457 

incorporate the National Council ; and for their sake the 
plan of the Commission of Nineteen, which provided for the 
incorporation of the Council, was abandoned. To these 
timid souls it seemed much safer to have a Corporation 
for the National Council, rather than an incorporation of 
the National Council. To be sure, the two bodies are com- 
posed of the same people, and have the same powers, but 
it seems to some people much safer to do the thing by 
indirection. As a matter of fact it is no safer and no better. 
An incorporation of the National Council would be quite 
as safe as a Corporation for the National Council, and would 
bring the control just one step nearer to the churches. 

There is no occasion to disturb the present order of 
things. The Corporation for the National Council is admir- 
ably planned, and its powers are ample, and it is fully con- 
trolled by the National Council ; it is better to leave it as 
it is: but the opposition to direct incorporation merely 
illustrates what has been from the beginning a defect in 
our Congregational thinking; it has been hard for us to 
think of the churches themselves at work as churches in 
larger units than the local parish. 

In the beginning Congregationalism was necessarily and 
rightfully provincial, even parochial; but Congregational- 
ism is learning to think in larger units. Over against paro- 
chial Congregationalism rises the larger and abiding vision 
of Continental Congregationalism. We shall not be diso- 
bedient to this heavenly vision. 

We will neither repudiate our own past nor burn over 
the ground of our future. We love our history. Even its 
mistakes are precious to us. We cannot afford to lose out 
of our denominational life any essential element that ever 
has been in it or that has found expression through it. By 
the grace of God we are what we are, and we have some- 
thing to contribute to the religious life of the world through 
our very limitations. If we have overemphasized freedom, 
there were others whose polity imperiled it. If we magni- 
fied individualism, the world needed our exaggeration of 



458 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

the value of the individual soul and the right of private 
judgment. If we insisted on the autonomy of the local 
church to the point of connectional weakness, that insist- 
ence had its partial justification in the existence of ecclesi- 
astical tyranny against which we were making a needed 
protest. 

But none of these things put us in bondage. "As the 
Lord's free people" the Pilgrim Fathers adopted the Scrooby 
confession, and as the Lord's free people we plan our work. 

Are we disloyal to the past in reaching out to lay hold 
on the opportunities of the future? Not so; we should be 
disloyal to the past if we did anything else. 

We are the Pilgrim Fathers of the future. We are 
launching new Mayflowers. We are adapting the forms 
and methods which we have inherited from the great men 
of yesterday to the unparalleled challenge and opportunity 
of tomorrow. We are making Continental and Catholic 
Congregationalism. It is to be continental, and more than 
continental territorially, and catholic in its spirit and pur- 
pose. 

The precise period of the genesis of the modern movement in 
the development of a denominational consciousness and of a repre- 
sentative democratic order is not easily determined. The sur- 
render of our heritage in the Middle East to the Presbyterians 
and the slow development of Congregationalism in the Middle 
West, due to the disinclination of our New England fathers to 
contest the ground with our Presbyterian friends, though retarding 
Congregational life and growth, resulted in stirring our constit- 
uency to aggressive assertion of their denominational life and 
character. It resulted, too, in the organization of Congregational 
state bodies with much more clearly defined and representative 
ecclesiastical character than those of the East and hastened the 
calling of the Michigan City convention for the advancement of 
common Congregational interests. Once awakened to a conscious- 
ness of place and power, there gradually evolved out of the Middle 
West the demand for a national representative body, which held 
its first session in Boston in 1865 and the first of its regularly 
successive triennial sessions in Oberlin in 1871. For some ses- 
sions the Council remained a purely deliberative body, little more 
than a public debating forum, voicing its judgments in timid and 
meager fashion, and not itself recognizing any function other than 
the purely advisory character its name implied and its constitution 
defined. 

The initiation of a representative body of chosen delegates 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 459 

carried with it, however, an implication of the wish and will of 
the churches which was destined to find expression in the assump- 
tion of administrative functions. Gradually the Council itself be- 
came the means of establishing a consistent Congregational order. 
The session of 1886, held in the Union Park Church, Chicago, and 
immediately following the stirring and stormy session of the 
American Board at Des Moines, marked the beginning of a new 
era in our order. Here was fought out the issue between the 
older individualism and looser construction as represented by the 
distinguished Nestor of Congregationalism, Rev. Henry M. Dexter, 
D. D., and the newer view of a representative democracy as held 
by Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, D. D., and Rev. A. Hastings Ross, D. D. 
These latter stood for a representative organization in each state 
wherein ministers were to be accredited. The issue was the 
seemingly narrow one of the determination of ministerial standing, 
but the resultant and decisive victory of the new democracy paved 
the way for a consistent democratic order. Gradually the Council 
became conscious of its own place in the development of the life 
and work of the churches and unconsciously burst the bonds of 
its own constitutional fetters. Its voice and expression served to 
modify the representative order of our benevolent societies — a 
forecast of a closer and more intimate relation of these societies 
to the body of the church's representatives. The passing of time 
has developed the determination of this relation into a national 
Congregational issue. 

The ripening of this issue had its origin in the Middle West 
and on the Pacific Coast. It was the natural outgrowth of the 
closer organization of our state bodies, whereby the administrative 
work of the states has become a single unit under a central board 
of administration and with the several departments of missionary 
service rightly co-ordinated. The lapse of the council system 
necessitated the utilization of committees of the district bodies for 
advisory and administrative service. The heretofore rank heresy 
of ministerial ordination by associational act is not now uncom- 
mon. The states not dependent upon the national benevolent soci- 
eties for the support of their missionary work within their borders 
have assumed full direction of these interests without the useless 
machinery of auxiliary bodies, vesting all administrative and 
executive direction in the hands of the churches in state organiza- 
tion. States dependent upon the national societies have followed 
this pattern so far as practicable, and all have become incorporated 
bodies, with full administrative powers and able to hold property, 
invest funds and disburse moneys at their pleasure. 

Congregationalism has not only survived the process, but 
promises to be increasingly effective, and better relates itself to 
the dawning movement of church federation, with possibilities of 
alignment and co-operation impracticable under the old and looser 
construction. And all this has been wrought out without infring- 
ing in the least degree upon the liberty of the local church or the 
freedom of individual faith. 

This widespread movement of reorganization, initiated almost 
simultaneously in the several states of the Middle West, had its 
origin, not in a panic, though our denominational conditions and 
inertia were so grave as to challenge serious attention and to call 



460 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

for prompt correction, but in the instinctive appreciation of the 
greater effectiveness of the simpler and more centralized admin- 
istration as contrasted with the heretofore multiform and complex. 
The success of the new order is not to be determined by statistical 
results. It will require at least a decade of years to make reliable 
deductions. Its test will be in the maintenance of a truly demo- 
cratic spirit. If, instead of creating efficient superintendents and 
strong administrative boards, it breeds bosses and rings, it has 
within itself, as a ready corrective, the voice of the church's repre- 
sentatives. 

In the positing of ministerial standing in an association of 
Churches (or Churches and Ministers), instead of in the ephemeral 
council, thereby creating permanence of ministerial character, and 
in the representative coalition of associations in a national body, 
a new representative principle was introduced into Congregation- 
alism which would have brought proper balance to the two cardinal 
principles of our polity, autonomy and fellowship, had it not been 
that our inheritance was one of anomalous and complex character, 
in which extra-Congregational usages and institutions had taken 
root, not easily to be brought into alignment with the better order. 
It has taken a long time for our churches to be dispossessed of the 
idea that liberty is expressed only in independence; that autonomy 
is self-government without counsel, except when asked for; that 
the liberty and independence of benevolent institutions, created 
outside of the churches, is to be sacredly observed. The demo- 
cratic principle has not only become imperiled but negatived. 
There has been an undue swing of the pendulum to the independ- 
ence rim of the arc. It is the reaffirmation and application of the 
democratic principle which most urgently calls for a more con- 
sistent and effective organization of our forces. Two impelling 
factors lead to this end: The necessity of the situation, and the 
Providential opportunity. — John P. Sanderson: Main Lines of Con- 
gregational Reorganization, 1906. 

Have We Sacrificed Democracy? Democracy has not 
been sacrificed in the recent changes in Congregational 
polity. So far as these changes relate to the administration 
of our denominational affairs larger than local, it may truth- 
fully be affirmed that these have never been so directly 
under control of the churches as now. 

When Congregationalism began its expansion in New 
England, and was learning its first lessons in connection- 
alism, there were three kinds of experiment in which the 
churches tried out the various forms of fellowship through 
larger units than the local church. One was by the calling 
of councils. This was a convenient and within certain 
limits an effective expression of fellowship without ecclesi- 
astical control. Yet the council was subject to certain 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 461 

marked limitations. It was not large enough nor repre- 
sentative enough nor permanent enough nor responsible 
enough for the larger requirements of fellowship and effi- 
ciency. Moreover, a council could be quite as tyrannical 
as any of the more permanent forms of fellowship. There 
was a time when the churches in and about Boston, uniting 
in councils, constituted a virtual close corporation to pre- 
vent the organization of new churches ; and in that usurpa- 
tion of a power wholly foreign to the spirit and genius of 
the council, those churches were quite as effectively organ- 
ized to block progress as if they had been solidified into a 
synod. 

The next form of fellowship and connectionalism was 
expressed through civil authority. This began with the 
colonies of New England, and lasted long after those col- 
onies became states. The General Court of Massachusetts 
called the Synod that adopted the Cambridge Platform in 
1648, the Boston Synod of 1662 and the Reforming Synod 
of 1680. The General Court of Connecticut convened the 
Saybrook Synod of 1708. The grip of the State was on the 
wrist of the Church for well nigh two centuries. 

The third way of uniting for common work was through 
corporations chartered by the state, though managed by 
men of the church, and called to existence for the extension 
of the work of the churches. These voluntary societies, 
great as was their achievement, were not representative of 
the churches. A corporation chartered in Connecticut 
entered into covenant with the Presbyterian General 
Assembly in 1801, and bound not only the whole of Con- 
gregationalism as it then was, but the whole of unborn 
Congregationalism as it was to be, for a full disastrous half 
century. 

The important thing to be remembered, however, is not 
whether these various plans worked well or ill at the various 
periods in which they were employed, but that none of them 
were democratic. The changes of recent years, which the 
unthinking have sometimes criticized as a departure from 



462 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

historic Congregationalism, are really a frank application 
of the Congregational principle to our modern and growing 
tasks, not to the detriment of the Congregational principle, 
but to the displacement of certain principles and organiza- 
tions which never were Congregational in their forms of 
operation. 

Dr. Nehemiah Boynton, while moderator of the National 
Council, was accustomed to speak of the "unappropriated 
areas" of ecclesiastical power, which the loose organization 
of the early days made possible in Congregationalism, which 
areas had gradually been squatted upon by organizations 
formed for worthy ends, but possessing no title deeds under 
the forms of historic Congregationalism. The method and 
spirit of recent changes has been to recover these areas of 
power for the churches themselves. 

They speak with little knowledge of the past, with little 
ability to evaluate the present, with little vision for the 
future, who maintain that the older way was more demo- 
cratic than the newer way. Under the methods at present 
accepted among us the churches themselves control the 
entire machinery of the denominations, from the local parish 
to the National Council. There is autonomy everywhere, 
as broad as it is long. There is local autonomy in the local 
church; district autonomy of the churches in the District 
Association; state-wide autonomy of the churches united 
for their state work in the State Conference, and needing 
no outside corporation for the doing of it; and nation-wide 
autonomy for the churches united in national work and 
fellowship. 

There is authority only so far as to be commensurate 
with responsibility, and the only authority anywhere is the 
authority of the churches. 

An Inconsistency Now Partially Remedied. Out of this con- 
dition there lie two pathways and only two: We may return to 
the original order; we may disorganize our National Council; we 
may re-emphasize the ecclesiastical Council and again vest in it 
ministerial standing; we may adjourn our local and state bodies 
sine die; we may re-commission our benevolent societies to their 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 463 

independent service; we may revive the spirit of the independence 
of the local church; and we may place ourselves out of line with 
the whole trend of the day because of our insistence upon the 
worth of the independent order of church life; that were a con- 
sistent policy. Or we may carefully counsel together and endeavor 
properly to co-ordinate our forces; we may develop a truly Con- 
gregational, representative and democratic system; we may in- 
crease the functions of the local association, state association and 
National Council; we may ask the national societies to become 
constituent parts of our common organism; that were a consistent 
policy. Our present relations are inconsistent. 

The logic of the situation, the trend of the times, the growing 
conviction of our denominational leaders, the demand of the rank 
and file of our churches is along the last named program. Can it 
be done without sacrificing the rights of the local church? ^ It 
must be done to preserve those rights. In the present constitution 
of several of our benevolent interests neither the local church, the 
local association or conference, the state Association, nor the 
National Council have any constitutional rights, however large 
their moral influence. 

The integration of our denominational interests is the most 
important task before us in the realm of ecclesiastical order. The 
pathway is clear and the end to be sought is feasible. The unit of 
our fellowship is the local church and the character of our fellow- 
ship is that of a representative democracy. In the development 
of a consistent Congregational polity these declarations should be 
constantly kept in mind; if we keep them in the foreground we 
shall need to take care that the expression of our will shall lie 
just as near the local churches as possible. Any plan which 
minimizes the function of the local association and magnifies the 
state body at its expense is to be regarded with disfavor as remov- 
ing the responsibility one step farther from the local church. — 
John P. Sanderson: What Modifications of Congregational Polity 
Are Desirable? 1907. 

The Larger Autonomy. We equally insist that our Congrega- 
tional churches are more than independent units. While recogniz- 
ing the right of independent action, even to the withdrawal of 
fellowship from the body of churches, we are assured that the 
individual churches will find larger life and usefulness in common 
pact of fellowship with other churches. Unitedly they may meet 
in local, state, and national bodies, vesting in these organizations 
such privileges of administration and direction as they may choose. 
In such representative bodies their own independence and will 
may always find truer expression than in corporations organized 
without such direct representation. — Report of the Committee on 
Polity, Nat. Council, 1907. 

Our Ideal Not Yet Realized. Our constitutive idea finds ex- 
pression in relation to the service of the Kingdom of God, and so 
long as we ensure that expression of it, we save alive the soul of 
Congregationalism. It is clear that the basal principle of the Inde- 
pendent Church is of the greatest significance and value. Every- 
thing proceeds from the creative presence of Christ in the fellow- 
ship of believers. Applied to the pulpit, it throws into relief the 
sacramental significance of preaching. In respect to the act of 



464 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

worship, it implies a revised doctrine of the Real Presence. In 
relation to service, it constitutes believers the veritable Body of 
Christ — hands with which He builds His Kingdom, feet with which 
He carries the Gospel to all the nations of the earth, while its 
application to the Church and churches demands, not perhaps un- 
varying uniformity, certainly not the present disunion and strife, 
but such a relationship as is expressed in the words "that they may 
be one, even as we are one." It is a profound and majestic ideal. 
We find it inadequately expressed in Congregationalism as it is, 
and we are driven to the conclusion that for the effective expres- 
sion of our own cardinal principle, considerable changes are neces- 
sary, involving less conservatism with regard to the polity that 
exists, and a clearer recognition of the fact that a more collectivist 
polity and organization are indispensable to the achievement of our 
one great end — the Kingdom of God upon earth. — Meredith Davis: 
Congregationalism and Its Ideal; Const. Quarterly, Sept., 1915. 

Twentieth- Century Congregationalism. We have given no judi- 
cial function to the National Council, or, indeed, to any organiza- 
tion outside of the individual church. An effort has been made to 
secure something of continuity in the organic life of the denomina- 
tion, as represented in the National Council. Its members are 
elected for two meetings, two years apart, one-half being elected 
each time. The officers continue from one meeting to the next; 
the Nominating Committee is a standing body, renewed in part at 
each meeting, but charged with the responsibility of seeing that 
proper nominations are made. The Council will have large influ- 
ence in safeguarding and protecting the rights of the churches, to 
which it will keep close. It will open the way for whatever of con- 
solidation is necessary in the Missionary Societies which are all 
under their own charters, having sprung up spontaneously and 
developed their own specific work alongside of others, who, at 
times, have been doing the same work. The supervision of their 
work, for which the Council has provided, will also tend greatly 
to produce harmony between our action and that of the Missionary 
Societies of other denominations, which, happily, are now all en- 
gaged in adjusting their relations in the interest of Christian effi- 
ciency and the avoiding of over-churching certain regions, at the 
expense of neglecting others. But even more important than this, 
within the life of the denomination, is the duty laid upon the Board 
of Missions, which is the executive department of the Council in 
this connection, that it shall supervise the raising of money for 
missionary and benevolent purposes, so far as to secure the adop- 
tion of the Apportionment Plan among the churches, and to indi- 
cate how much money the denomination, as a whole, ought to aim 
to raise; instituting, if possible, such methods as will secure the 
raising of the money. In proportion as this is effectively done, the 
working secretaries and officers of the various Missionary Societies 
will be relieved from what has hitherto been a large and burden- 
some part of their work. They will be left free, more than in the 
past, to give their time to the administration of their societies and 
the promotion and supervision of their definite tasks. The late 
Archbishop Temple said to Christians in England: "We are now 
men governed by principle, and cannot any longer rely upon the 
impulses of youth or the discipline of childhood." Our effort as 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 465 

Congregationalists is to give to the Christian principles which 
underlie our ecclesiastical life a positive emphasis and a larger 
significance. 

We have made something of a fetish of Separatism; and Indi- 
vidualism, often carried to extremes has been our curse. The time 
now has come for Unity. A true fellowship with one another can 
alone be our salvation. Other Nonconformists have learned to 
work together, and yet abide in love. We have made a flag of our 
individualism, which bears the same relation to independence that 
license does to liberty. 

Happily, a new spirit has come upon our churches, which was 
strikingly exhibited at the Kansas City meeting, which stands dis- 
tinguished, before all else, for the kindliness of its temper, the 
earnestness, and at the same time the good nature, of its debates, 
and the keenness of its interest in the questions that concerned the 
life of the denomination, coupled with the overwhelming sense of 
the guidance of the Spirit of God, and the undisturbed spiritual 
atmosphere which characterized all the sessions of the Council. — 
H. A. Stimson, in Bibliothica Sacra, Jan., 1915. 

What Is the World Conference on Faith and Order? 
The World Conference on Faith and Order was proposed 
at the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States in 1910, in the following reso- 
lution : 

Whereas, There is today among all Christian people a growing 
desire for the fulfillment of Our Lord's prayer that all His disciples 
may be one; that the world may believe that God has sent Him: 

Resolved, The House of Bishops concurring, That a Joint Com- 
mission be appointed to bring about a Conference for the con- 
sideration of questions touching Faith and Order, and that all 
Christian Communions throughout the world which confess our 
Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour be asked to unite with us 
in arranging for and conducting such a Conference. The Commis- 
sion shall consist of seven Bishops, appointed by the Chairman of 
the House of Bishops, and seven Presbyters and seven Laymen, 
appointed by the President of the House of Deputies, and shall 
have power to add to its number and to fill any vacancies occurring 
before the next General Convention. 

These further resolutions have been adopted: 

(1) The Conference is for the definite purpose of considering 
those things in which we differ, in the hope that a better under- 
standing of divergent views of Faith and Order will result in a 
deepened desire for reunion and in official action on the part of 
the separated Communions themselves. It is the business of the 
Conference, not to take such official action, but to inspire it and to 
prepare the way for it. 

(2) All Christian Communions are to be asked "to unite with 
«s in arranging for and conducting" the Conference. We, our- 
selves, are to take only preliminary action, and at the earliest 
moment possible are to act in association with others. Formal 



466 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

association for joint action can be effected only after a sufficient 
number of commissions shall have been appointed, and sufficient 
opportunity to appoint such commissions shall have been afforded 
to all Communions, both Catholic and Protestant. 

(3) The Conference will have no power to commit any par- 
ticipating Communion upon any point. 

The Congregational and many other denominations, have 
voted to accept this invitation. It is not known at the time 
of the publication of this volume when the conference will 
be held. 

What Is Our Attitude Toward Current Movements for 
Union? The Congregational churches have always been 
ready to consider plans for closer working union with all 
branches of the Church of Christ, and are ready also to 
confer concerning organic union. Questions of union at 
present mooted are likely to crystallize around the invita- 
tion of the Episcopalians to unite in a World Conference 
on Faith and Order. Whether that Conference will be pro- 
ductive of good we may not now predict. Our denomina- 
tion will be represented in it, and will meet more than half 
way any proposals looking toward the closer relations of 
our Christian bodies. 

It needs to be said, however, that the Congregational 
churches cannot fail to know that the Episcopalians are at 
present facing a very serious division in their own ranks, 
and we do not wish them to divide over us. It would be a 
poor union that should draw one wing of the Episcopal 
Church a trifle closer toward us, and at the same time draw 
it out of all fellowship with the rest of its own communion. 

It would seem better on the whole that the Episcopal 
churches should themselves decide on what basis they will 
propose fellowship with us. If they are ready to confer 
with us as churches conferring with churches, we shall 
understand each other; but if that issue is to be kept in 
the background at the outset, only to emerge later in the 
declaration that we are conferring as "The Church" in con- 
ference with "separated brethren" who are not in "The 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 467 

Church," the conference will not make much progress 
beyond the point at which that declaration is made. 

Yet that is precisely what a large proportion of Episco- 
palians do affirm; and they who say such things need not 
talk much about desiring union with other Christian bodies. 

It has lately been said by a good man of our own fellow- 
ship who has become somewhat enraptured by the dream 
of a closer union with Episcopalians, "Let us not ask what 
they will concede to us until we tell them what we are 
willing to concede to them." 

The answer to this is simple ; we have already conceded 
all that we shall ever ask them to concede. We concede 
that they are Christians, and we do not re-confirm them ; 
we concede that theirs are true churches, and we do not 
ignore them; we concede that their ministers are ordained 
with a valid ordination, and we treat them as Christian 
ministers. We shall never ask more than this of the Episco- 
palians, and we cannot ask less of them than the full admis- 
sion that ours, too, are true churches of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, possessed of a valid ministry, and administering 
true sacraments. If Episcopalians answer to this, "You 
must not ask us to concede at the outset what must be the 
very point at issue between us," we must answer that we 
cannot assist them in settling this question, since it is for 
themselves they must settle it; we do not ask nor permit 
them to decide this question for us. 

If again they answer, "We cannot admit these things 
concerning you without giving up the ground on which 
our own Church stands," our answer is that in that case 
there is no need for them to invite us into conference; we 
would not willingly be responsible for results so unfortu- 
nate. They must measure this risk to their own system 
before they invite us to confer with them. On the other 
hand, we see very little value in their sending us an invita- 
tion which has prefixed to it a denial of our ecclesiastical 
existence. 

If Bishop Gore of Oxford correctly states the position 



468 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

of the Episcopal Church in his reply to the Archbishop of 
Canterbury concerning Kikuyu, and the episcopate is of the 
essence of a valid ministry, the negotiations may as well 
halt at this point as at any other. He says : 

The conclusion seems to me quite irresistible that the whole 
idea of the visible Catholic Church has been from the beginning 
bound up with the institution of the ministerial succession which 
took shape universally and solely in the succession of Bishops; 
that, if in any respect the Church Catholic has exercised the 
authority of binding and loosing, it has exercised this authority 
so as to make Episcopal ordination strictly necessary for ministry 
in the Church — of the esse, not of the bene esse of "valid" or 
recognizable ministry. The Episcopate as the necessary mark of 
the Church holds exactly the same position of Catholic authority 
as the Creed or the Canon of Scripture. To accept a non-episcopal 
ministry is an act of explicit rebellion against the authority of the 
ancient and undivided Church than which there can be no rebellion 
more complete. Then, when I go back to the origin of our religion, 
I am convinced that the institution of the visible Church and its 
ministry belongs to its original essence and bears the authority of 
the Lord Himself. 

"Valid" and "invalid" expresses a different and more funda- 
mental idea than "regular" and "irregular." If there is a visible 
Church having authority to bind and loose in the administration 
of sacraments, it must say, "Sacraments administered under such 
and such conditions are not sacraments which we can recognize — 
they carry no longer with them the guarantee of the Church" 
The Church has not said that Baptisms celebrated by those who 
are not priests are not valid: it has not even said universally or 
in all cases that Confirmations not administered by a Bishop are 
invalid; it has not as a whole said that schism invalidates sacra- 
ments: but it has said that ordinations to holy orders not cele- 
brated by a Bishop are invalid, and that Eucharists not celebrated 
by an episcopally ordained priest are invalid. Let us be thankful 
that the Church cannot and does not claim to restrict the free 
action of God. But it does claim, and the claim seems to me irre- 
sistible, that the new covenant was with the Church, and the 
Church was endued with authority to bind and loose, and has done 
so with an unmistakable emphasis and constancy and universality 
in respect of Creed and Episcopate alike. If this be so, and the 
Anglican Church accepts the results of this determination of the 
Church, and interprets in the light of this determination great 
passages or principles of Holy Scripture, then it seems to me that 
we must, in the mission-field as at home, give plain notice of our 
platform; and I feel quite convinced that if it is once understood 
where we intend to stand — where we must stand if the Anglican 
communion is to hold together — one result is certain to follow: 
we must be left out of any general Protestant federation. 

Episcopalians need not approach us with an invitation 
to confer on church union, and at the same time tell us 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 469 

that "To accept a non-episcopal ministry is an act of ex- 
plicit rebellion against the authority of the ancient and 
undivided Church than which there can be no rebellion 
more complete." 

But the history of the Episcopal Church is against any 
such position. A recent article in the London "Churchman" 
summarizes the historic position of the Episcopal Church, 
and shows that to concede the validity of Congregational 
and Presbyterian orders would in no sense invalidate the 
Episcopal position, or if it would, then that position was 
surrendered by the Episcopalians long ago: 

The Act of 1570, whatever its design, was certainly interpreted 
and employed to permit foreign non-episcopal divines to exercise 
their ministry in our Church without re-ordination, by merely sub- 
scribing the Articles. For this Act to supply the churches "with 
pastors of sound religion" declared that every person who "pre- 
tended to be a priest or minister of God's Holy Word and Sacra- 
ments, by reason of any other form of institution, consecration, 
or ordering" than the forms set forth by authority under Edward 
VI and Elizabeth "should declare his assent and subscribe to all 
the Articles of Religion" (Prothero, "Statutes and Const. Docu- 
ments," 1894, p. 64). 

There is, moreover, absolutely conclusive proof that the Tul- 
chane or titular Bishops existing in the Scotch Church in 1603 
were merely Parliamentary officials in Presbyterian orders only, 
and that, therefore, Canon 55 in exhorting us to pray for the 
Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland, "distinctly recognized 
a Church possessing only Presbyterian orders as a branch of 
Christ's Holy Catholic Church." This clear testimony to the 
validity of Presbyterian orders was further affirmed when Arch- 
bishop Bancroft refused to re-ordain as "deacons and priests" the 
ministers who were consecrated as Bishops for the Scotch Church 
in 1610, on the ground that "where Bishops could not be had" 
Presbyterian ordination "must be esteemed lawful"; otherwise it 
might be doubted if there were any lawful vocation in most of 
the Reformed Churches (Spotiswood, "History of the Church of 
Scotland," Book VII, p. 514). Bishop Morton, a little later on, 
also similarly refused the Archbishop of Spalato's request to re- 
ordain a foreign Reformed divine who was to minister in England, 
maintaining "that it could not be done but to the scandal of the 
Reformed Churches in which he would have no hand" since ordina- 
tion was "the jus antiquum of presbyters" (Neal, "History of the 
Puritans," Vol. II, p. 353). 

Besides the sufficient testimony of such representative Church- 
men as Lord Chancellor Clarendon, Bishops Burnet, Cosin, and 
Fleetwood, that these foreign Reformed clergy were given cures 
of souls in England without further ordination, and were therefore 
required as part Of their ministerial duties to administer the Com- 



470 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

munion to Episcopalians, we have well attested individual examples 
of this practice. Wittinghame, an Englishman, ordained at Geneva, 
was Dean of Durham for years, while Archbishop Grindal's license 
to John Morrison, the Scotch Presbyterian divine, to exercise his 
ministry "throughout the Province of Canterbury" is still pre- 
served (Strype, "Life of Grindal," p. 402).^ We find further that 
many French Reformed clergy ministered in English Churches in 
the Channel Isles without re-ordination. (See Hole's "Church 
History," p. 278.) — Rev. C. Sydney Carter in The Churchman (Lon- 
don), October, 1915. 

Episcopal Practice. For one hundred years after the Reforma- 
tion we could go through the books and show you case after case 
not only of men who have been received to the Communion in the 
English Church never having been confirmed, but, mark this, 
brought to the universities to teach the future priests of the 
English Church, who had never been confirmed and never been 
ordained except by Presbyterian or Congregational ordinations; 
that there were canons of cathedrals and curates in many churches 
throughout England who had never received any ordination except 
that of Geneva or the Lutheran church or the Huguenots, and the 
people received the Communion at the hands of these men who 
themselves had previously received the Communion though they 
had never been confirmed. This is the unbroken history of the 
English Church for more than one hundred years to the passing 
of the act of uniformity after the restoration of Charles the Second. 
— Rev. Leighton Parks: (Episcopalian) Sermon in Boston in 1905. 

Slender Basis of Episcopal Claim. I have thus far said nothing 
of the Apostolic succession of the Holy Ministry, upon which 
Anglicans lay so great stress. Indeed, it is only an incident, in a 
vastly greater whole. The Anglican complacency in the Apostolic 
succession of the ministry of the Church of England received a 
rude shock when Pope Leo XIII, after a careful and searching 
historical investigation, declared Anglican orders invalid. From 
the Roman point of view, his decision cannot be successfully dis- 
puted. If it be necessary to a valid Christian ministry that it 
should be the intention of the ordinal to ordain a real sacrificing 
priest, I have not the slightest doubt that Anglican orders are in- 
valid, because the Anglican Reformers had no such intention. 
Anglican orders can be vindicated only on the ground that it was 
the intention of the Anglican Reformers, in their ordinal, to ordain 
such a reformed ministry of deacons, priests and bishops, as they 
supposed was the genuine Apostolic inheritance. If they made a 
mistake in omitting the important element of the sacrificial char- 
acter of the priesthood, it was a mistake of ignorance, and not of 
wilful disobedience to their Lord. 

But if Anglican orders must be defended on this ground, so 
can Lutheran and Presbyterian orders, for the Lutheran and Cal- 
vinistic Reformers were just as sincere and desirous of loyal ad- 
herence to the Lord's institution as were the Anglicans. If their 
•rders are regarded as more defective than the Anglican, yet their 
intention was substantially the same. 

We should consider the historical situation when the Churches 
of the Reformation were separated from Rome and compelled to 



REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 471 

become national Churches. The Anglican episcopal succession de- 
pends upon a very slender thread. Not one of the four bishops 
who consecrated Archbishop Parker had jurisdiction in any of the 
historic sees. Under these circumstances it is altogether unhis- 
torical and unbecoming for the Anglicans to exalt themselves above 
their Protestant brethren on the Continent, as if they alone had 
the true Apostolic Ministry. — Prof. Chas. A. Briggs: (Episcopalian) 
Art. in Independent, Jan. 28, 1904. 

In like manner prominent Episcopalian scholars in our 
own country have repeatedly pointed out that the Episco- 
palians would suffer no loss of the essential principles of 
their denomination by meeting us on what Bishop Brown 
calls "a level plan of Church union." But there is no pres- 
ent consensus of opinion among Episcopalians looking to- 
ward any such level plan, and it is too soon to say what 
will be the result of these conferences. 

Meantime, we have learned some things as a result of 
our conferences with the United Brethren and Methodist 
Protestants. One of them is that it is as hard to come to 
terms with a small denomination as with a large one. 
When we attempt church union, we might as well attempt 
it on a scale of some magnitude. Another is that differ- 
ences in polity are more difficult to adjust than apparent 
differences of creed. If the time comes when we are ready 
to consider a merger that may involve the sacrifice of our 
denominational name, and that time is not now in sight, 
there are large bodies close akin to us in history and polity 
with whom negotiations would be more likely to be fruitful 
than any that at present are under discussion. 

Our closest working union is with the Presbyterians. 
For more than a century we have had a practical working 
agreement with them in both home and foreign missionary 
work. They are becoming more democratic, and we are 
becoming more highly organized. If the Providence of 
God should bring into still closer union these two great 
Puritan bodies, on terms that guaranteed freedom and fel- 
lowship, it might be for the greater glory of God. 

Close to us, on the other hand, stand the Baptists and 
the Disciples of Christ, who are bone of our bone and flesh 



472 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

of our flesh. The latter, especially, by their open com- 
munion, stand where we can reach their hand over no high 
wall of separation. The Disciples have some qualities which 
we need, and we have some which they need. Territorially, 
they are strong where we are weak, and weak where we are 
strong. A far-sighted and statesmanlike plan of union 
would waste little present effort on bodies which probably 
cannot come into any closer fellowship with us without 
being rent asunder in the process, and, if we really want 
union, to seek it where there is some prospect that some- 
thing might conceivably come of our efforts. 

Christian union in some form is coming, and we, who 
have been leaders in preparing for it, will do well still to 
guide in its development. A discussion of these questions 
does not belong to this volume, further than to say what 
needs to be said, that union will follow lines of least re- 
sistance when it proceeds along lines of historic kinship in 
polity and in working ideals. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



The following list contains some of the more important of the 
works consulted in preparation of this book. No attempt at a 
complete bibliography could be undertaken. In his "Congrega- 
tionalism as Seen in Its Literature," Dr. Henry M. Dexter listed 
7,250 titles in what he called a contribution toward a bibliography 
of Congregationalism. Even this monumental list is not complete. 
The bibliography of Congregationalism would probably contain 
not less than 9,000 titles, and a survey of its polity compels some 
research among authorities in other denominations. 



Adams, Brooks: The Emancipation of Massachusetts, Boston, 1886. 

Adams, Charles Francis: Three Episodes of Massachusetts His- 
tory, Boston, 1892. 

Addison, Daniel Dulany: The Episcopalians, New York, 1904. 

Alford, Dean Henry (1810-1871): Commentary on New Testament, 
4 vols. 

Allen, A. V. G.: Christian Institutions, New York, 1909. 

Ainsworth, Henry (1571-1622 or 3): Arrow Against Idolatry, Am- 
sterdam, 1613. 
Reply to Johnson, London, 1641. 

American Church History Series. Twelve volumes, New York, 
1894. 

Anderson, Asher: National Council Digest, Boston, 1905. 

Bacon, Leonard (1802-1881): Genesis of the New England 
Churches, New York, 1874. 

Bacon, Leonard Woolsey (1830-1907): The Congregationalists, 
New York, 1904. 

Barrowe, Henry (c. 1546-1593): A Brief Discouerie of the false 
Church, Dort, 1590. 

Bartlet, William: Model of the Primitive Congregational Way, 
1647. 

Barton, William E.: A Congregational Manual, 1910; seventh 
edition, 1914. 

Baxter, Richard (1615-1691): Non-Conformity, London, 1689. 

Church History of the Government of Bishops and Councils, 
London, 1681. 

Boston Platform, Ecclesiastical Polity. The Government and 
Communion Practised by the Congregational Churches in the 
United States of America. Boston, Congregational Publishing 
Society, 1872. 

Boynton, George M. (1837-1908): The Congregational Way, Bos- 
ton, 1903. 

Bradford, William (1588-1657): History of Plimoth Plantation. 
Reprint, Boston, 1898. 

Brief Narrative of the Practices of New England Churches. By 
an Inhabitant, London, 1645. 

Browne, Robert (1550-1631): "A Book which showeth the Life 
and Manners of all True Christians, and how unlike they are 
unto Turks and Papists and Heathen Folk." Middleburg, 1582. 



474 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

A Treatise on Reformation without Tarying for anie, Middle- 
burg, 1582. 

A New Year's Guifte, written Dec. 31, 1588. Edited and first 
published by Champlin Burrage, London, 1904. 
The Retractation of Robert Browne, Edited by Champlin Bur- 
rage, Oxford, 1907. 

Buck, Edward (1814-1876): Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Law, Bos- 
ton, 1865. 

Burrage, Champlin: The Early English Dissenters, 2 vols., Cam- 
bridge, 1912. 

The True Story of Robert Browne, Oxford, 1906. 
The Retractation of Robert Browne, Oxford, 1907. 
New Facts Concerning John Robinson, Oxford, 1910. 

Calvin, John (1509-1564): Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 
vols. 

Campbell, Alexander (1788-1866): The Christian System, 1835. 
Edition quoted is the reprint of the second (1839) edition, issued 
by the Christian Board of Publication, St. Louis. 

Carpenter, Edmund J.: The Pilgrims and Their Monument, New 
York, 1911. 
Roger Williams, New York, 1909. 

Clark, H. W.: History of Non-Conformity, 2 vols. London, 1913. 

Clark, Joseph S.r Historical Sketch of Congregational churches in 
Massachusetts, 1858. 

Clemen, Carl von: Primitive Christianity and Its Non-Jewish 
Sources, Edinburgh, 1912. 

Cobb, Sanford H.: The Rise of Religious Liberty in America, 
New York, 1902. 

Coleman, Lyman: Church Without a Bishop, Boston, 1844. 

Cotton, John (1585-1652) : The Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven, 
London, 1644. Reprinted, Boston, 1843; and Boston, 1852. 
The Bloudy Tenet Washed and made white in the blood of 
the Lamb, London, 1647. 
Way of the Churches, London, 1645. 
Way of the Churches Cleared, London, 1647. 

Cummings, Preston (1800-1875): A Dictionary of Congregational 
Usages and Principles. Boston, 1852. Edition quoted is the 
sixth, 1856. 

Dale, Robert W.: History of English Congregationalism, London, 
1906. 
Manual of Congregational Principles, London, 1884. 

Davenport, John (1697-1770): Power of Congregational Churches, 
1672. 

Davidson, Samuel (1807-1898): Ecclesiastical Polity of New Testa- 
ment, London, 1848. 

Davis, Ozora S.: John Robinson, the Pilgrim Pastor. Boston, 1903. 
The Pilgrim Faith, 1913. 

Dexter, Henry Martyn (1821-1890): Congregationalism: What It 
Is; Whence It Is; How It Works. Boston, 1865. Edition 
quoted is the fourth, Boston, 1874. 
A Hand-Book of Congregationalism, Boston, 1880. 
Congregationalism as Seen in Its Literature, New York, 1880. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 475 

Emmons, Nathaniel (1745-1840): "Scriptural Platform of Ecclesi- 
astical Government Established by the Lord Jesus Christ," con- 
tained in his "Works," Vol. V, and also in his "System of Divin- 
ity," in 2 vols. 1842. 

Ellis, George E.: The Puritan Age in Massachusetts, Boston, 1888. 
Half Century of Unitarian Controversy, Boston, 1857. 

Fiske, John (1842-1901): The Beginnings of New England, Boston, 
1898. 

Figgis, John N.: Churches in the Modern State, London, 1913. 
The Fellowship of the Mystery, New York, 1914. 

Foster, Frank Hugh: A History of New England Theology, Chi- 
cago, 1899. 

Fundamental Ideas of the Roman Catholic Church, Phila- 
delphia, 1899. 

Foy, Joseph H.: The Christian Worker (Disciples), St. Louis, 1890. 

Geldart, W. M.: Elements of English Law, London, 1913. 

Gallagher, Mason: The True Historic Episcopate as Seen in Con- 
stitution of the Church of Alexandria, New York, 1890. 

Gates, Errett: The Disciples of Christ, New York, 1905. 

Greene, M. Louise: Development of Religious Liberty in Con- 
necticut, Boston, 1905. 

Hanbury, Benjamin: Historical Memorials, 3 vols., London, 1839. 

Harnack, Adolf: Constitution and Law of the Church, London, 
1910. 
The Social Gospel, London, 1907. 

Hatch, Edwin (1835-1889): Origin of the Early Christian Churches, 
London, 1881. 

The Influence of Greek Ideals and Usages upon the Christian 
Church, London, 1907. 

Heermance, Edgar L.: Democracy in the Church, Boston, 1906. 

Henson, Canon H. H.: Westminster Sermons, London, 1908. 
The Liberty of Prophesying, New Haven, 1910. 

Higginson, Francis (d. 1630): Confession and Covenant of the 
Salem Church, 1629. 

Hiscox, Edward T.: The New Directory for Baptist Churches, 
Philadelphia, 1894. 

Hodges, Dean George: The Episcopal Church: Its Faith and 
Order, New York, 1915. 

Hooker, Richard (1553-1600): Ecclesiastical Polity, 1592. 

Hooker, Thomas (1586-1647): Survey of Church Discipline, Lon- 
don, 1648. 

Hood, E. Lyman: The National Council, Boston, 1901. 

Horton, Robert F.: The Early Church, London, 1909. 

Hutchinson, Governor Thomas (1711-1780): History of the Prov- 
ince of Massachusetts Bay, 3 vols., Boston, 1764-1769. 

Inge, William Ralph: The Church and the Age, New York, 1912. 

International Council Reports: 1891, 1899, and 1903. 

Jackson, Samuel N.: A Handbook of Congregationalism, Toronto, 
1894. 

Jacob, G. A.: Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testament, New 
York, 1879. 

Jacob, Henry (1561-1621): Defense of Church and Ministers of 
England, Middleburg, 1599. 



476 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Divine Beginning of Christ's Visible Churches, 1610. 

Church Confession, 1616. 
Johnson, Captain Edward (1599-1672): Wonder-Working Provi- 
dence of Sion's Saviour in New England, 1653. Edition quoted 

is New York, 1910. 
Johnson, Francis (1562-1618): Treatise Against Two Errors of the 

Anabaptists, in Hanbury's Works. 
Keep, John (1781-1870): Congregationalism and Church Action, 

New York, 1845. 
Lindsay, T. M.: The Church and the Ministry in the Early Cen- 
turies, London, 1910. 
Ladd, George T.: The Principles of Church Polity, New York, 1882. 
Lightfoot, John Barber (1828-1889): Articles on The Ministry in 

Smith's Bible Dictionary and Commentaries on the Epistles. 
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form, 1648. 

Church Government and Church Covenant discussed in an 

answer of the elders of the several churches in New England 

to two and thirty questions, London, 1643. 
Mather, Increase (1638-1723): First Principles of New England 

Churches Justified, 1700. 

Disquisition concerning Ecclesiastical Councils, 1716. 
Mather, Cotton (1662-1728): Magnalia Christi Americana, London, 

1702. Edition quoted is Hartford, 1820. 

Ratio Disciplinse, Boston, 1726. 
Mather, Samuel (1706-1785): Apology for the Liberties of the 

New England Churches, 1738. 
McGifFert, Arthur C: History of Christianity in the Apostolic 

Age, New York, 1906. 
Milton, John (1608-1674): Treatise Against Prelacy; Christian 

Doctrine and Eikonklastes in two volume edition of his prose 

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of the Congregational Churches, Northampton, 1838. 
Morrison, Charles C: The Meaning of Baptism, Chicago, 1914. 
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1909. 
National Council Reports: 1871 to date. 
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Christian Church, 1854. 
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Osterley, W. O. E., and Box, G. H.: Religion and Worship of the 

Synagogue, New York, 1907. 

The Books of the Apocrypha, New York, 1914. 
Pierce, Martin L.: How to Set the Church in Order (Disciples), 

Cincinnati, 1914. 
Punchard, George: View of Congregationalism, Boston, 1844. 

History of Congregationalism, third edition, 5 vols., Boston, 

1865. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 477 



Quint, Alonzo H. (1828-1896): Articles in Congregational Quar- 
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Ramsay, W. M.: The Church m the Roman Empire, New York, 

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Renan, Ernest (1823-1892): The Apostles, New York, 1875. 
Report of American Unitarian Association, Boston, 1912. 
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Smith, William (1813-1893): Dictionary of the Bible, 1865. 

Dictionary of Roman Antiquities, 1880. 
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Teaching of the Twelve Apostles: Edition quoted is that edited by 

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True Description out of the Word of God, of the Visible Church 
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The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism containing 
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A Platform of Church Discipline gathered out of the Word 
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1662. (The Half-Way Covenant Synod.) 

A Confession of Faith Owned and Consented unto by the 
Elders and Messengers of the Churches Assembled at Bos- 



478 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

ton in New-England, May 12, 1680. Boston, 1680. (The 
"Confession of 1680.") 

A Confession of Faith Owned and Consented to by the 
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to by the Elders and Messengers of the Churches in the 
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gation at Say-Brook, September 9th, 1708. New London, 
1710. (The Saybrook Platform.) 

The "Plan of Union." Minutes of the General Assembly of 

the Presbyterian Church, etc., 1789 to 1820, Philadelphia 

(1847), pp. 224, 225. 

Weizsacher, Carl von: The Apostolic Age, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1899. 

Williams, John (1664-1729) : The Redeemed Captive, 1696. Edition 

quoted is the Springfield reprint. 
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and Hypocrisie Unmasked, 1646. 
Wise, John (1652-1725): The Churches' Quarrel Espoused, Boston, 

1710. 

A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches, 

Boston, 1717. Both reprinted in one volume, Boston, 1860, 

which is the edition quoted. 



INDEX OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 

Adams, Zabdiel: Ministerial veto, 136. 

Alford, Henry: Bishop and presbyter identical, 68. 

Allen, A. V. G.: Ecclesiastical evolution, 76. 

Ainsworth, Henry: Library of prophesying, 218; ordination by 
peoples, 222; excommunication, 337. 

Anderson, Asher: Force and freedom, 33; local church, inde- 
pendent, 136. 

Apologetical Narrative: Prayer book not sinful, 369. 

Aristotle: Three kinds of government, 6, 7. 

Augustine: Lists of bishops, 112. 

Backus, Isaac: Ordination, 211. 

Bacon, Leonard: Church and civil government, 9; in Boston Plat- 
form, 15; apostles not local officers, 64. 

Bacon, Leonard Woolsey: The Christian Connection, 40; other 
denominations Congregationalized, 42; the Church not a club, 
151; Saybrook Platform, 293; who may baptize, 355. 

Balch, W.: Ministers in council, 264. 

Barrowe, Henry: Ordination by the people, 221. 

Bartlet, J. Vernon: Plural Episcopate, 80; relations of pastor and 
people, 255. 

Bartlett, William: Freedom and fellowship, 41. 

Barton, William E.: Tri-church union, 453, 454. 

Beecher, H. W., as a Calvinist, 378. 

Bellarmine: Definition of a church, 103. 

Best, Nolan R.: Democracy and efficiency, 32. 

Bibliotheca Sacra: Twentieth Century Congregationalism, 464. 

Boston Platform of 1865: Autonomy and fellowship, 15; the uni- 
versal church, 44; ministers without pastoral charge, 233; 
quorum of council, 265; pastor and delegates, 269; installation, 
250. 

Boynton, George M.: Congregational principle, 15; current Con- 
gregationalism, 98; definition of a church, 102; pastor as moder- 
ator, 135; 136; parliamentary law and church meetings, 138; con- 
ditions of church membership, 149; good standing of church 
members, 161; termination of membership, 163; qualifications 
of voting members, 167; office of deacon, 174; affiliated organi- 
zations, 192; Sunday school a part of church, 193; women's 
societies, 195; preparation for the ministry, 197; licensure, 199; 
ministerial standing, 227; hearing candidates, 236; installation, 
249; termination of pastorate, 251; legal rights of minister, 253; 
ecclesiastical councils, 257; fellowship of the church, 258; no 
council for licensure, 271; limitation of council, 272; deposition 
of a minister, 314; advantages of a permanent body, 318; minis- 
terial standing and the Year Book, 339; church censure, 348; 
infant baptism, 351; administration of the Lord's Supper, 359; 
invitation to the table, 360; Congregational creeds, 389; the 
church covenant, 393. 

Boynton, Nehemiah: Church union, 453; unappropriated areas, 462. 

Bradford, William: The Pilgrim church, 21; Pilgrim state, 22. 



480 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Bradshaw, W.: No authority above local church, 258; no Jewish 
jurisdiction over local churches, 279. 

Briggs, Charles A.: Slender basis of Episcopal claim, 470. 

Brinton, Daniel G.: Ecclesia in primitive religions, 52. 

Brown, Bishop Wm. M.: Church unity, 44. 

Browne, Robert: Priesthood of believers, 12; church independent 
of state, 27-28; official tyranny, 97; the church and its officers, 
109. 

Buck, Daniel: Church covenant, 394. 

Burrage, Champlin: Church covenant, 394. 

Burton, Chas.: History of home mission, 439. 

Burton, H.: No creed tests, 301; sufficiency of covenant, 394. 

Calhoun, John C: Necessity of government, 4. 

Calkins, Raymond: The message of Congregationalism, 451. 

Calvin, John: Bishops and presbyters identical, 68. 

Cambridge Platform of 1648: Church government, 4; polity, 5; 
Congregational name, 18; church action and common sense, 29; 
the name independent disapproved, 41; church government in 
the Word of God, 97; definition of a church, 102; the church 
visible and invisible, 105; the Catholic church, 112; number 
necessary to a church, 114; examination for church membership, 
156; weak in faith to be received, 157; dismission of church 
members, 161; dismissed member remains a member, 166; offi- 
cers not absolutely necessary, 172; duties of deacons, 174; power 
to dismiss officers, 179; ordination, 209; lay ordinati n, 215 and 
216; no indelibility of orders, 223; pastor and teacher, 244; power 
of the congregation, 247; church free to act, 254; conferences 
or synods, 292; "The Third Way," 302; ministerial authority, 
305; church discipline, 331; the church covenant, 393. 

Campbell, Alexander: Polity of Disciples, 39. 

Carpenter, Edmund J.: Quotations from addresses at dedication 
Pilgrim Monument, 23. 

Carter, C. Sydney: Episcopal orders, 469. 

Century Dictionary: Definition of Congregationalism, 10. 

Chauncey, Isaac: Church before its officers, 109; majority vote 
constitutes church action, 137; church deserters, 162; members 
departing to non-communion, 165; pastor a member of the 
church, 236; pastor and teacher, 244. 

Choate, Rufus: Pilgrim government, 24. 

Churchman, Linden: Episcopal church and Protestant orders, 469. 

Clark, Joseph S.: Varying usage in licensure, 199. 

Clarke, Dorus: Congregational antiquity, 20. 

Clay, W. L.: Worship must be natural, 369. 

Clemen, Carl von: Synagogue and church, 57. 

Cobb, Wm. H.: Congregational name, 18. 

Coleman, Lyman: Primitive church democratic, 58; the local 
church, 63. 

Confession of 1680: Christian liberty, 382. 

Cotton, John: Name Congregational, 17; two kinds of officers, 66; 
the office of a deacon, 175; widows and deaconesses, 176; call of 
a pastor, 237; councils and synods, 257; associations, 292; min- 
ister administers Lord's Supper, 359; liberty of conscience, 379, 
380; the church covenant, 394. 



INDEX OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 481 

Cummings, Preston: Apostles not ecclesiastical rulers, 65; dis- 
banding a church, 125; ministerial veto, 136; church membership, 
156, 157; licensure, 198; women's rights, 220; pastor and teacher, 
244; appeals, 274; councils and churches, 280; origin of associa- 
tions, 295; consociations, 297; excommunication, 337; minister 
administers sacraments, 358; Puritan objection to funerals, 376; 
platforms and confessions, 377; confessions, their use and abuse, 
379. 

Cyprian: Origin of the episcopate, 80. 

Dale, Robert W.: Democracy in church affairs, 12; the will of 
Christ, 13; the Congregational name, 18; Congregationalists and 
Independents, 41; no central government in primitive church, 
63; permanence and flexibility of organization, 101; creed sub- 
scription not required, 170; ruling elders, 239; a minister's faith, 
380; authority of creeds, 389; doctrinal errors not ground for 
expulsion, 391. 

Davenport, John: Weak in faith must be received, 152; minister 
and ordination, 213; ordination by the people, 222; ministers 
subject to churches, 247; authority of councils, 279; covenant 
constitutes the church, 392; church covenant, 394. 

Davidson, Samuel: Bishops and deacons, 67; who may baptize, 
354; deacon may administer Lord's Supper, 358. 

Davis, Meredith: Congregational ideal, 11; Lordship of Christ, 11- 
12; adjustment to changed conditions, 30-31; the sacrament of 
common worship, 364; popular sovereignity and representative 
unity, 455; ideal not yet realized, 463. 

Davis, Ozora S.: The message of Congregationalism, 422. 

De Forest, Herman P.: The association, our one ecclesiastical 
body, 292. 

Denney, James: The Church from -Jesus, 54. 

Dexter, Henry M.: Congregational law, 2; Congregational prin- 
ciples, 10; machinery and manhood, 16; freedom and strength, 
29-30; Congregationalism in Catholicism, 42; New Testament 
local churches, 55; definition of a church, 102; rights of minor- 
ity, 124; propounding candidates, 155; dismission of members, 
161; no general letters of dismission, 164; dismission to churches 
not in fellowship, 164; dropping members, 165; status of dis- 
missed members, 167; how to vacate church offices, 179; parish 
system, 186; rules for parish, 187; liberty of organization, 193; 
the pastoral office, 235; ruling elders, 240; legal rights of a min- 
ister, 253; who may call a council, 261; council not a court, 273; 
ex-parte council, 284; associations, 289; conferences, 290; min- 
isterial terminates with pastorate, 306; deposition of a minister, 
314, 316; discipline in public offenses, 337; ministerial standing, 
339; who may baptize, 354; world moves toward democracy, 
450; Congregationalism the mother of the nation, 455. 

Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles: Second century 
apostles, 82; Christian baptism, 350; the Lord's Supper, 357. 

Dunning, A. E.: Gradual development of church organizations, 98. 

Dupuy, Geo. A.: Marriage Laws of Illinois, 205. 

Durel, J.: Bishop an elder brother, 86. 

Dwight, Timothy: Duty of church to guilty member, 334. 

Eddy, Richard: Universalists, 38. 

Eliot, C. W.: The Mayflower Compact, 23. 



482 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Emmons, Nathaniel: Church visible and invisible, 105; visible 
members of a church, 149; right of church to determine condi- 
tions of membership, 151; power to dismiss officers, 180; ordina- 
tion, 211, 216; church installs officers, 254; authority of councils, 
274; the church covenant, 393. 

Encyclopedia Biblia: Primitive churches, 53. 

Encyclopedia Britannica: Ecclesiastical evolution, 76. 

Ernst, C. W.: Congregational name, 18. 

Fairbairn, A. M.: Democracy as spiritual solidarity, 405. 

Farrar, Thomas: Ancient precedents, 95. 

Foy, Joseph H.: Disciples creed, 40. 

Fuller, Andrew: Administration of the Lord's Supper, 359. 

Geldart, W. M.: Law and laws, 2. 

Gibbons, Cardinal James: Roman theory of the church, 89. 

Gladden, Washington: Church union, 453. 

Goodwin, Thomas: Organization of a church without a council, 
121; ordination by ministers, 216; pastor and teacher, 244; 
church covenant, 393. 

Gore, Bishop Charles: Validity of Protestant orders, 468. 

Hadley, Arthur T.: Congregational democracy, 26. 

Hale, Edward Everett: Local autonomy, 13; Man without a Coun- 
try, 107; independence of opinion, 391. 

Hall, Chas. Cuthbert: The doom of leadership, 245. 

Hall, Robert: Church may not set arbitrary terms for membership, 
153; open communion, 361. 

Hanbury, Benjamin: Councils and appeals, 274; Roman Catholic 
baptisms, 355. 

Harnack, Adolf: Development of church law, 9; the word church, 
54; James, the brother of Jesus, 67, 77-78; Luther's Congrega- 
tionalism, 75; bishop and presbyter, 80, 81, 83; monarchical 
episcopate, 85; gradual development of ecclesiastical law, 100; 
the celestial church, 105. 

Harrison, R.: Lay ordination, 216. 

Hasting's Dictionary of Religion and Ethics: Name Congrega- 
tional, 18. 

Hatch, Edwin: Permanent factors in re-organization, 47; church 
and Gentile organizations, 59-60; bishop and presbyter, 68; 
bishop not originally an ecclesiastical office, 71. 

Haven, Judge: In Dedham case, 279. 

Hazen, Henry A.: Future of ecclesiastical councils, 286. 

Heermance, Edgar L.: The right of development, 3; democratic 
responsibility, 25; church and state, 27; church founded on 
Christ, 55; freedom of development, 100; conditions of a church, 
103; ministry a rank of service, 172; theory of ministry, 207; 
liberties of churches secure, 318. 

Henson, H. H.: Bishop not originally an ecclesiastical officer, 71; 
the primitive church, 92. 

Herring, Hubert C: Congregational ideals, 17; faith and works of 
Congregationalism, 33; Congregational statistics, 36; the posi- 
tive message of Congregationalism, 404; control of missionary 
societies, 449. 

Higginson, Francis: Salem covenant, 394. 

Higginson, John: Fidelity to Pilgrim principles, 24. 

Hill, Hamilton A.: Bible reading in Old South, 368. 



INDEX OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 483 

Hiscox, Edward T.: Baptist polity, 38; definition of a church, 103; 
church cannot control conscience of members, 170; pastor's 
authority, 255; few ideal pastorates, 255. 

Hodges, Dean George: Origin of episcopate, 80. 

Hooker, Richard: Necessity of church government, 4; church 
polity, 5; church before its officers, 109; representative govern- 
ment, 452. 

Hooker, Thomas: Congregational name, 19; conditions of member- 
ship, 156; rejection of church applicants, 158; ordination, 210, 
211. 

Hooper, Bishop John: Episcopal succession, 88. 

Hopkins, Samuel: The Church of Christ, 114; government by 
majority, 137. 

Hort, F. J. A.: Promotion of deacons, 180. 

Horton, Robert F.: How churches began, 57; bishop in local 
church, 81; Ignatian theory, 86; Catholicism not catholic, 90. 

Howe, John: Open communion, 362. 

Hutchinson, Governor Thomas: Effectiveness of Congregational- 
ism, 30-31; churches and councils, 279. 

Inge, Win. Ralph: The tyranny of precedent, 3. 

Jacob, G. A.: Church began at Pentecost, 54; bishops of Rome, 
112; who may baptize, 354. 

Jacob, Henry: Definition of a church, 103; the organized church, 
104; liberty of prophesying, 218; covenant of 1606, 394. 

Johnson, Captain Edward: The Woburn ordination, 214; the 
Woburn covenant, 391. 

Ignatius: Origin of episcopate, 81-90. 

Irenaeus: The episcopate, 80; list of Roman bishops, 112. 

Jefferson, Charles E.: Congregationalism and liberty, 422. 

Jerome: Testimony as to presbyters, 87. 

Johnson, Francis: Roman Catholic baptism, 355. 

Justin, Martyr: Early Christian worship, 366. 

Keep, John: Liberty of prophesying, 218. 

Knox, John: The universal church, 63. 

Ladd, George T.: Sacredness of personality, 12-13; influence of 
Congregationalism, 30-31; principles and growth, 100; regen- 
erate church membership, 149; the individual church member, 
150; conditions of church membership, 152; ordination, 210, 216; 
right of church to a doctrinal statement, 238; pastor and people, 
247; authority of councils, 273; ministerial discipline, 340. 

Laud, Archbishop William: Protestantism not negative, 111. 

Lawrence, Bishop William: Fidelity of church treasurers, 178. 

Leachford, Thomas: The gathering of churches, 121; majority and 
unanimity, 137. 

Leo XIII, Pope: Denied validity of Anglican orders, 470. 

Lightfoot, John B.: No sacerdotal system in New Testament, 65. 

Lindsay, T. M.: Church and Gentile organizations, 59; ordination 
and authority, 210. 

Littledale, R. F.: Successors of Peter, 83. 

Lodge, Henry Cabot: The Mayflower Compact, 23. 

Loisy, Alfred: Church militant and triumphant, 105. 

Luther, Martin: Bishops and presbyters, 68; his belief in Congre- 
gationalism, 75. 

Macfayden, D.: Power of adaptation, 100. 



484 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Mackenzie, William Douglas: Church union, 453. 
Mather, Increase: Congregational polity, 5; Congregational name, 
19; ministerial veto, 136; admission of church members, 157; 
minister everywhere a minister, 213; laymen and ministers in 
council, 269, 270; the permanence of our principles, 349. 
Mather, Richard: The force of reason, 29; permanence of church 
government, 101; conditions of church membership, 155; right 
to refuse members, 158; ordination, 211; ordination by elders, 
222; appeal in church discipline, 274; no creed tests, 301; free 
from bondage to "stinted liturgy," 370. 
Mather, Cotton: Pastors were bishops, 67; admission of church 
members, 157; deaconesses, 176; licensure, 198; ordination, 210; 
ordination and vocation, 218; indelibility of orders, 224; re- 
ordination, 226; call of a pastor, 237; pastor and teacher, 244; 
ex-parte council, 284; no creed tests, 301; ministerial standing, 
339; order and worship, 349; open communion, 362; Christ made 
no prayer book, 369; Puritan funerals, 376. 
Mather, Samuel: Ordination, 211; pastors and lay delegates, 264; 
force of council decrees, 273; administration of Lord's Supper, 
358; platforms and confessions, 377. 
McGiffert, Arthur C: Growth of organization, 56. 
McKenzie, Alexander: A Congregational nation, 36. 
Milton, John: Apostles did not rule churches, 64; the universal 
church, 104; assent to church covenant, 156; liberty of prophe- 
sying, 218; laying on of hands, 221. 
Mitchell, John: Congregationalism and creeds, 29; rights of exam- 
ination, 156; platforms and confessions, 377. 
Morrison, Charles C: Disciples and Congregationalists, 39; trend 

of Disciples and Baptists practice, 50. 
Morton, Nathaniel: The Salem covenant, 394. 
Mosheim, Johann L.: Who may baptize, 354. 
Nash, Charles Sumner: Majority and unanimity, 138; ministerial 
leadership, 207; the ministry as a business, 208; pastoral theory 
inadequate, 213; ministerial leadership, 245; pastors lead, not 
rule, 248; council a court of last resort; 274; inadequacy of con- 
ciliary system, 285; the association, 292; organization from be- 
low, 294; associations not for state work, 298; local church the 
unit, 299; minister in association, 305; local church does not 
ordain, 310; associations may ordain, 311; church the vital unit, 
318; church composes higher bodies, 322; associational member- 
ship a necessity, 340; the churches constitute the council, 401; 
representative democracy, 451. 
National Council Reports: Basic Congregational principle, 10; 
Congregational name, 17; unity, 43; educational program of the 
church, 196; right of association to depose, 230; ministerial 
standing, 209; incorporation of state conference, 324; right of 
churches to withdraw fellowship, 340; organization of National 
Council, 401; faith, polity and fellowship. 410; alternates and 
substitutes, 414; purpose of Council, 414; corporation, 415; con- 
stitution, 423; by-laws, 426; consolidation of benevolent soci- 
eties, 435, 436, 444, 445; representative government, 455; the 
larger autonomy, 463. 
Neal, Daniel: Congregational ordination, 223; no authority over 
local church, 258. 



INDEX OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED 485 

Neander, J. A. W.: Bishops same as elders, 67; who may baptize, 
354. 

Northrup, Cyrus: Need of denominational leadership, 404. 

Noyes, James: Councils and synods, 257. 

Owen, John: Minister everywhere a minister, 224. 

Oxford Dictionary: Name Congregational, 18. 

Pardee, J. N.: The parish or society, 182. 

Philpot, Bishop: Episcopal succession, 88. 

Parks, Leighton: Episcopal practice, 470. 

Pliny: Christian worship, 365. 

Plummer, Alfred: The early British Church, 80. 

Punchard, George: Definition of a church, 102; majority and 
unanimity, 138. 

Quint, Alonzo H.: Boston Platform, 15; Congregational name, 17; 
local church and larger fellowship, 213; councils and civil 
courts, 280; no church or minister independent, 319; freedom 
from creed tests, 388; organization of national council, 401. 

Ramsay, William M.: Bishop and presbyter identical, 68. 

Renan, Ernest: Influence of the brothers of the Lord, 77-78. 

Report of Commission of Nineteen on Polity, Kansas City, 1913: 
443, 444. 

Robert, Henry M.: Right to eject an intruder, 146. 

Robinson, J. A.: The word church, 53. 

Robinson, John: Protest against name Brownist, 20; democracy 
in church government, 25; sowing and reaping, 32; union not 
division, 44; faith and progress, 45; definition of a church, 102; 
one church and many, 104; the egg and the bird, 109; composi- 
tion of a church, 114; church fellowship, 150; baptism by an 
unlawful minister, 355; baptism, 361; church covenant, 394. 

Ross, A. Hastings: Local church independent, 13; the Congrega- 
tional theory, 16; synagogue congregational, 57; the Congre- 
gational principle, 100; kingdom and the church, 108; church 
not a voluntary society, 110; papal theory Greek, not Roman, 
112; ministerial veto, 136; regenerate membership, 149; five 
conditions of membership, 149; officers should be guides, 172; 
duties of clerk, 177; licentiates not ministers, 198; ministry and 
laity, 207; local ordination, 211; right to preach, 218; ordination 
not inauguration into pastorate, 219; decline of installation, 250; 
who may call a council, 261; usurpation of Saybrook Platform, 
293; associations may ordain and depose, 312; withdrawal of 
fellowship, 317, 341; ministerial standing, 339. 

Royce, Josiah: Life of the Christian ecclesia, 53; Christ and the 
Church, 61. 

Sabatier, Auguste: Apostolic succession, 82. 

Sanderson, John P.: Main lines of Congregational re-organization, 
458; an inconsistency partially remedied, 462. 

Savoy Confession: Ordination, 221; minister administers Lord's 
Supper, 358; unlawfulness of creed tests, 379. 

Saybrook Platform: Qualifications of licentiates, 199; establish- 
ment of consociations, 293. 

Schubert, Hans von: Origin of Episcopate, 80. 

Schaff, Philip: Synagogue and church, 58; every congregation a 
church, 66; apostolic succession, 83. 

Selbie, W. B.: International Councils, 35, 



486 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Sewall, Joseph: Public reading of Scripture in Boston, 368. 

Sewall, Samuel: Record of public scripture reading in Boston, 367. 

Smith, Chief Justice: Decision on Universalism, 38. 

Smith, William: Ecclesia in Athens and Sparta, 52. 

Sohm, Rudolph: The Christian in the church, 61; invisible and 
visible churches, 105. 

Stiles, Ezra: Churches and councils, 279; church may reject advice, 
280; origin of associations, 295. 

Stillingfleet, Edward: Church must receive whom Christ receives, 
152. 

Stimson, Henry A.: Twentieth century Congregationalism, 464. 

Stoddard, Solomon: Local church and larger fellowship, 214. 

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles: See Didache. 

Tertullian: Lists of bishops, 112; who may baptize, 354; on Chris- 
tian worship, 366. 

Thompson, W.: Councils and appeals, 274. 

Toy, Crawford H.: The church the product of Christ's personality, 
54. 

True Description and True Confession (declarations of the Lon- 
don-Amsterdam church): Local autonomy, 14; liberty of 
prophesying, 218; authority of creeds, 389. 

Trumbull, B.: Rise of consociations, 297. 

Unitarian Handbook: Our common heritage, 37; ordination, 212; 
church covenant, 378; Puritan covenant unchanged, 392. 

Upham, Thos. C: Conditions of church membership, 152; indi- 
viduals in Council, 270; origin of associations, 292; creed tests, 
379. 

Urban I, Pope: Bishops and deacons, 67. 

Vernon, Ambrose W.: On Robert Browne, 19; religious freedom, 
26-27; danger of freedom, 29; Congregational spirit, 36; the 
covenant a sacrament, 394; spiritual liberty, 450. 

Vibert, W. H.: The apostolic Church, 92. 

Walker, Williston: Congregational name, 18; Congregationalism 
widespread, 36; imparted value of Congregationalism, 98. 

Ward, William Hayes: Church union, 452. 

Watts, Isaac: Government by majority, 137; churches not prison, 
157; terms of communion, 361. 

Welde, T.: Deacons and deaconesses, 176; platforms and confes- 
sions, 377. 

White, John: Councils and churches, 280. 

Williams, Bishop Charles D.: The word Protestant, 109; the Holy 
Catholic Church, 111. 

Williams, John: Baptism by savages, 355. 

Williams, Roger: Freedom in government and worship, 379. 

Wise, John: Democracy in church government, 25; ministers may 
be omitted from council delegates, 264; councils and appeals, 
214; councils and churches, 280. 

Winslow, Edward: Quotes John Robinson, 20; union not division, 
44. 

Winthrop, John: Conditions of Church membership, 156; the 
Woburn ordination, 215. 

Winthrop, Robert C: Effectiveness of Congregational system, 31. 

Wycklif, John: Bishops and presbyters identical, 68. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 

Absent Members: the right to vote, 147; duty of church to, 169. 

Acting pastor, 242. 

Adaptation: power of, 100. 

Advisory Committee: of association, 118; its normal functions, 319. 

Albany Convention, 399. 

Alexandria, Bishop of, 87. 

Alternates: in National Council delegation, 412. 

American Bible Society, 434. 

American Board, 24, 434, 438. 

American Congregational Association, 443. 

American Doctrinal Tract Society, 441. 

American Education Society, 438. 

American Home Missionary Society, 434. 

American Tract Society, 434. 

Annual Meetings: their presiding officer, 136; rules, 140; business, 
141. 

Annuity Fund, 446. 

Antiquity, Congregational, 20. 

Apostles: Did they rule the churches, 63; their successors, 81; in 
second century, 84; doctrine of succession, 95, 112; how far their 
organization a pattern, 97; Episcopal claim of succession denied 
by Rome, 470. 

Apostles' Creed: not written by apostles, 382. 

Appeal: to Council, 274. 

Approbation to preach, 196-207. 

Assent to Creed, not required, 170. 

Assistant pastor, 242. 

Assistants: general term for salaried church workers, 176. 

Association of churches: and church organization, 121; and licen- 
sure, 200; and ministerial standing, 227-231; may ordain, 229, 301; 
may depose, 230, 301; may call council, 260; composed of 
churches and ministers, 289; origin of, 292; not a voluntary 
body, 294; not a menace to local autonomy, 294; has custody 
of ministerial standing, 296; church may unite and withdraw, 
299; shall ministers vote, 304; may incorporate, 308; may not 
license, 309; increase of power, 317; may act as council, 327. 

Associations of ministers: 289; origin, 292, 295; relation to associ- 
ation of churches, 295. 

Athanasian Creed: not written by Athanasius, 382. 

Authority: and church organization, 112; civil in church matters, 
132; of lists of bishops, 112; pastoral, 245. 

Autonomy: of local church, 10, 13-14, 15; larger than local, 130. 

Ballot: may one person cast, 147. 

Baptism: to whom administered, 349; in what form, 349; in early 
church, 350; of infants, 351; of dying children, 352; who may 
administer, 352. 

Baptist churches: polity of, 38; possible union with, 471. 

Believers: priesthood of, 10, 11. 

Bible Reading: in early church, 366; in Boston and Salem, 367. 

Bible Society, 34, 192. 



488 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Bishop: originally a secular office, 70-71. 

Bishops: and elders, 66-72; and presbyters, 66-72; first distinction 

between, 80. 
Body of Christ: in Lord's Supper, 360; in church, 364. 
Boston: First Church covenant, 392. 
Boston Council of 1865, 399. 
Brattle Street Church: Bible reading in, 368. 
Brethren of the Lord: their place in the church in Jerusalem, 71, 

77-78. 
Brotherhood: organization of men, 195. 
Browne, Robert: and early Congregationalism, 19. 
Building: not the church, 108. 
Burial Hill Confession, 400, 405, 406, 408. 
Business: Conduct of church, 130; at special meetings, 134. 
Call: to preach, 197; to pastorate, 235. 
Calvinism: as Calvin would interpret it now, 378. 
Cambridge Platform: 397. 
Cambridge Synod, 396, 461. 
Candidates: for ministry, 197. 
Catholic Church: Roman, 112. 
Catholic Church: the Holy, 111. 
Change and Progress, 2. 
Charter Membership: of Church, 120. 
Chicago: Tri-ennial Convention, 399; Pilgrim Convention, 400; 

Council of 1886, 403, 417; tri-church union, 453. 
Child: Advice against parent's will, 248. 
Choir: minister and, 241. 

Christ: lordship of, 11; will of, in church government, 13. 
Christian Connection: Polity of, 40. 
Christian Endeavor Societies, 192. 
Christmas: observance of, 372. 
Church: government, 4-6; forms of, 6-8; autonomy of local, 10, 

13-14; without bishop, 24; and state in Congregationalism, 27-28; 

meaning of the word, 51; use of secular institutions, 53; the 

New Testament, 54; did Jesus use word, 55; and temple, 56; 

and synagogue, 57; and Gentile organizations, 58; social ideal, 

60; permanence, 101; definition, 102; visible and invisible, 104; 

militant and triumphant, 105; who may organize, 113; how to 

organize, 118; how to disband, 123; member of association, 299; 

withdrawal of fellowship from, 301. 
Churches: New Testament, how founded, 62; how governed, 65. 
Church Extension Boards: 446. 
Citizenship: and Congregationalism, 25. 
Civil government: and church polity, 8-9. 
Clerk: of church, duties of, 177. 
Cleveland: National Council of, 1907, tri-church union discussion, 

453; committee on polity, 463. 
Club: church not a, 151. 
Collegiate pastor: 242. 
Committee: on church membership, 154. 
Commission of Nineteen, 409, 443. 
Commission on Missions, 443, 445. 
Compass: not weathercock, 1. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 489 

Conference: may call council, 260; Dexter's definition, 290; not 
composed of delegates from association, 321; does not hold 
ministerial standing, 321; does not entertain appeal, 322; may 
incorporate, 324; relation to Home Missionary Society, 324. 

Confessions: London, 14, 15; of 1648, 384; of 1680, 384; Burial Hill, 
384; of 1883, 384; Kansas City, 1913, 385; the Dayton, 385, 409. 

Congregational: significance of the term, 17; early uses, 17-19; 
law, 1; polity, 6; compared with other governments, 7; consti- 
tutive principle, 10; ideal, 11-16; theory, 16; name, 17; antiquity, 20. 

Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief, 442, 44o\ 

Congregational Church Building Society, 442, 444, 446. 

Congregational Education Society, 434, 436, 444, 447. 

Congregational Home Missionary Society, 434, 439, 444, 445, 446. 

Congregationalism: defined, 15; what it stands for, 24; not a per- 
fect system, 30; effectiveness, 31, 32; influence on other denom- 
inations, 31, 41; size, 35; progress, 44; will it endure, 45; and 
other denominations, 87; Biblical authority, 98; variety of 
method, 121; not necessarily provincial, 456; continental and 
catholic, 458. 

Congregational League of Church Assistants, 176. 

Congregational Publishing Society, 445. 

Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society, 441, 444, 446. 

Connecticut Missionary Society and Plan of Union, 421, 461; con- 
sociation, 293. 

Consociation, 296; origin, 297; workings, 293. 

Constantine: and the state church, 8. 

Constitution of the National Council, 423. 

Corporation: for National Council, 415, 457. 

Corporation: Religious, 181; its limitations, 460. 

Council: for church organization, 113; for ordination, 222; packed, 
222; for dismission, 254; pro re nata, 257; function, 258; who may 
call, 258; not necessarily from vicinage, 262; how to call, 262; 
organization, 265; moderator, 266; scribe, 267; irregularity, 268; 
individual members, 269; not for licensure, 271; may examine 
when not invited, 271; limitations, 272; is it a court, 273; an 
appellate body, 274; sessions, 275; vote, 277; how to address, 
277; finding, 278; decision, 279; standing in church court, 280; 
classification, 281; mutual, 282; ex-parte, 284; future, 286. 

Covenant: basis of church fellowship, 102; service of newly organ- 
ized church, 120; assent, 157; violation of, 169; constitutes the 
church, 392; a third sacrament, 393; examples of early, 394. 

Creeds: relation to polity, 8; acceptance for substance of doctrine, 
28; assent not required for church membership, 170; not re- 
quired in early Congregationalism, 301; Congregational, 377; 
how to be interpreted, 378; not as tests, 379; ethics of subscrip- 
tion, 382; of the National Council, 384; relation to the Preamble, 
385; in local church, 389; rejection of, 390; relation to covenant, 
392. 

Dayton: Confession, 385, 409; tri-church union, 453. 

Deaconess: in New Testament, 175; not necessarily the wife of 
a deacon, 176; in New England, 176; name not popular, 176. 

Deacons: were laymen in primitive church, 66; became lower rank 
in clergy, 74; in modern church, 173; duties and term of office, 
174; installation, 176; not candidates for ministry, 180. 



490 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Delegate: to ecclesiastical council, 263; to National Council, 412. 

Democracy: in church affairs, 10, 12; and efficiency, 30-31; a spirit- 
ual solidarity, 405; representative, 450, 455, 460. 

Denominations: their origin, 87, 93; defined, 106; becoming Con- 
gregational, 108. 

Deposition: from the ministry, 230, 311, 313. 

Des Moines: Council of 1904, 419, 452. 

Development: right of, 3, 97. 

Diploma: no substitute for examination, 201. 

Disbanding: of church, 123. 

Disciples of Christ: polity of, 38; possible union with, 401. 

Discipline: in local church, 331; of lay member, 331; of minister, 
331, 338; how administered, 333; professional counsel, 334; in 
absence of offender, 336; by association, 341; by council, 346; 
not by state conference, 346; not by National Council, 347. 

Disturber: May be silenced, 146. 

Division: of a church, 128. 

Divorce: minister's attitude toward, 374. 

Doctrinal Change: ground for removal from pastorate, 248, 338. 

Doctrinal Emphasis, 28. 

Doctrinal Statement: from pastor, 238. 

Dropping Members: from church roll, 164. 

Duty: neglect of, by minister, 338. 

Easter: communion service, 363; observance, 372. 

Ecclesia: in primitive religions, 52; in Athens and Sparta, 52; in 
New Testament, 53. 

Ecclesiastical Law, 8. 

Efficiency: and democracy, 30, 31. 

Elders: and bishops, 66-72; ruling, 239. 

Episcopal: government, 6-7; and other denominations, 87; system 
un-Scriptural, 91; letters to other churches, 168; movements 
toward union, 465-470; validity of orders, 470; ordination and 
confirmation, 468-469; claims denied by Rome, 470. 

Episcopate: historic, 72; plural, 80; monarchical, 80, 85-87; succes- 
sion, 81, 82. 

Evangelical Alliance, 34. 

Evangelist: ordination of, 219. 

Examination: for church membership, 155; for pastorate, 271. 

Ex-parte Council, 282. 

Faith: what constitutes, 157; a minister's, 381; of National Council, 
410. 

Faith and Order: World Conference on, 465, 466. 

Fast Days: 372. 

Federal Council: 34. 

Fellowship: and autonomy, 10, 14-15; in National Council Consti- 
tution, 411. 

Finding: of Council, 276-277. 

Fraud: ordination obtained under, 222. 

Freedom: religious, 26-28; dangerous but desirable, 29-30; and 
force, 33; not sacrificed in closer organization, 451, 461. 

Funerals: conduct of by minister, 375; by layman, 376; in church 
building, 376. 

Garb: distinctive for women workers not favorable, 176. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 491 

General Court: called synods in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 
461. 

Gentile Organizations: and church, 458. 

Government: in state and church, 3; necessity, 4; kinds, 6, 7; civil, 
8-9. 

Hands: imposition of, 220. 

Harvard College: founded, 24. 

Heresy: in Congregationalism, 380. 

Hierarchy: none in New Testament churches, 65. 

Holland: Pilgrims in, 21. 

Holy Days, 372. 

Ignorance: sometimes an essential qualification, 95. 

Illinois: Memorial on ministerial standing, 230. 

Immersion: a form of baptism, 350. 

Immorality: ground for removal of a minister, 249, 338. 

Incorporation: of association, 308; or state conference, 323; of 

Indelibility of orders: not a Congregational doctrine, 223. 

Independency: not identical with Congregationalism, 40. 

Indians: instructed to baptize infants before killing them, 384. 

Irregular action: 144. 

Installation: of deacons, 176; other officers, 177; pastor, 249-251; 
not re-ordination, 273. 

International Council: 34-35. 

Intruder: may be ejected, 145. 
National Council, 415, 457. 

James: the brother of the Lord, 71, 76-77. 

James VI: of England, 9. 

Jud, Roger: withdrawal from Old South, 168. 

Kansas City: Confession of Faith, 385; National Council of 1913, 
420; changes in missionary societies, 444; in organization, 454. 

Kikuyu Controversy, 467. 

Kingdom of heaven: 107. 

Law: Congregational, 1; and laws, 2; and precedent, 3; ecclesias- 
tical, 8; development of, 9, 100. 

Lay preacher: may be licensed, 201. 

Leadership: ministerial, 245. 

Legal: rights of minister, 253. 

Lent: observance of, 372. 

Letters: of dismission and recommendation, 156; refusal to accept, 
158; refusal to grant, 163; to whom granted, 161; to organiza- 
tions out of fellowship, 164. 

Letters Missive, 262. 

Liberty: religious, 26-28. 

License: to solemnize marriage, 375. 

Licensure: to preach, 197-206; not by council, 271; not by associa- 
tion, 309. 

Life: the Christian, 364. 

Liturgy: in Congregational churches, 369. 

London Confessions quoted, 14, 15. 

Lord's Supper: its institution, 356; its significance, 356; in early 
church, 357; who may administer, 358; mode of administration, 
359; invitation to, 360; who may partake, 361; kinds of bread and 
wine used, 362; how often administered, 363; special communion 
season, 363. 

Lutheran church, 87. 



492 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Luther, Martin: believed in Congregationalism, 75. 

Majority: may it disband a church, 124; and minority, 137, 139. 

Manhood: and machinery, 16. 

Marriages: may licentiates solemnize, 204; the minister and, 374. 

Massachusetts Sabbath School Union, 441. 

Massachusetts Synod, 397, 461. 

Mayflower Compact, 9, 396. 

Meetings: call of, 132, 133. 

Members: their duties and rights, 149; examination of, 155; by 
letter, 156; dismission of, 163; status of dismissed, 166; partly 
withdrawn, 167; dropping of, 164. 

Membership: basis of, 150; terms, 152; how secured, 153; pro- 
pounding for, 155; by letter, 155; examination, 156; transfer, 
157; duties, 158; rights, 159; termination, 162; may a member 
demit, 162. 

Methodist Episcopal Church: government Presbyterian, 7, 87; 
influenced by Congregationalism, 42. 

Methodist Protestant: proposed union, 452, 471. 

Metropolitan: a higher bishop, 74. 

Michigan City Convention, 399. 

Midwives: baptzied dying infants, 354. 

Minister: fourfold duties, 172; retired, 233; unworthy, 224; deposi- 
tion, 230, 311, 313; standing in association, 227, 303; demitting, 
231; vote in association, 304; standing, 403. 

Ministry: a rank of service, 172; work of, 207-234; and laity, 207; 
how to enter, 208; ordination, 209; limited ordination, 224; of 
other denominations, 225; standing, 227, 403. 

Minority: rights of, 124, 127. 

Minors: their vote in church business, 147. 

Missionary church: and self-government, 131. 

Missionary societies: may not ordain, 217; their organization, 
434-447; consolidation considered, 435; recent changes, 445. 

Moderator: of church meeting, 135; of council, 266; of National 
council, 416. 

Mutual Council, 282. 

National Council: on basic principle of Congregationalism, 10; its 
origin, 395; bodies which preceded, 395; enlargement of power, 
403; dates and places of meeting, 405; doctrinal basis, 405; rela- 
tion to churches, 411; delegates, 411; vacancies, 412; alternates, 
412; temporary alternates, 414; purpose, 414; how supported, 
415; corporation, 415; moderator, 416; secretary, 420: is it a 
menace, 420; constitution, 423; by-laws, 426. 

Neglect of duty: ground for removal from pastorate, 249; what 
constitutes, 338. 

New Testament churches: self-governing, 20; is their usage deci- 
sive, 100. 

Newtowne Synod, 396. 

New West Education Commission: 439. 

Nicea: Council of, 87. 

Nicene Creed: 382. 

Oberlin: Declaration on Unity, 43; National Council of 1871, 402. 

Officers: in Apostolic church, 66; in modern church, 108, 171; are 
they necessary, 172; should be guides, 172; deposition of, 179. 

Old South, Boston: Relations with Episcopal church, 168; Council 
of 1865, 271. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 493 

Ordinances: may licentiates administer, 204; how administered, 
349; who may administer, 354. 

Ordination: defined, 209; not by local church, 211; not by laymen, 
214; may be on Sunday, 216; not by missionary society, 217; 
does not create right to preach, 217; of evangelists, 219; of 
women, 219; under fraud, 222; irregular and invalid, 222; limited, 
224. 

Organizations: affiliated, 192. 

Oxford Movement, 92. 

Papacy: its evolution, 75. 

Papal government, 6; Greek, not Roman, 112. 

Parent: ministerial advice, 248. 

Parish: legal society, 182. 

Parliamentary rules: in church business, 138, 140. 

Pastor: a moderator at church meetings, 135; duties of, 172; what 
constitutes, 235; how called, 235; member of the church, 236; 
collegiate, 242; assistant, 242; acting, 242; a prophet, 244; author- 
ity, 245; legal right, 253; unworthy, 256. 

Pastor's assistant: denned, 242. 

Permanent elements: in church life, 47. 

Personality: sacredness of, 12-13. 

Peter: authority derived from, 88; was he the rock, 80; has he the 
power of the keys, 91. 

Pilgrim Convention, 400. 

Pilgrim Fathers: their church and state, 20-24; of the future, 458. 

Policy: and polity, 4. 

Polity: and kindred words, 4; church, 4-6; and politics, 4; and 
ecclesiastical law, 8; and creed, 8; and civil government, 8-9; in 
National Council constitution, 411. 

Portland, Maine: Council of 1901, 418. 

Planets: freedom of, 29-30. 

Plan of Union, 421. 

Plymouth Rock, 20. 

Prayer book, 369. 

Prayer meetings, 371. 

Prayer: public, 368; written or printed, 369. 

Prayer: Week of, 372. 

Preach: call to, 197; right to, 217. 

Preacher: pastor as, 243. 

Preaching: in public worship, 370. 

Precedent: tyranny of, 3. 

Presbyterian government, 7; church, 87; Scriptural basis, 95; Gen- 
eral Assembly, 461. 

Presbyters: and bishops, 66-72. 

Priesthood of believers, 10, 11. 

Progress: Congregationalism and, 44. 

Prophesying: liberty of, 218. 

Prophet: pastor as, 243. 

Provisional Committee: of the National Council, 416. 

Protestantism: defined, 110. 

Proxy votes: in church meetings, 143. 

Publicity: in church trials, 347. 

Quorum: what constitutes, 133; of Council, 264. 

Reasonableness: of Congregationalism, 29. 



494 THE LAW OF CONGREGATIONAL USAGE 

Records: of church business, 141; who has custody, 141; oblitera- 
tion of, 142. 
Recognition: of church, 121; of pastor, 251. 
Reform: attitude of the church toward, 373. 
Reforming Synod, 397, 461. 

Relations of Jesus: their place in the early church, 77, 78. 
Religious Education Boards: 447. 
Reports: at church meetings, 142. 
Representative principle: democratic, 450; affirmed by National 

Council, 455. 
Rights: of members, 159; of minister, 253. 
Roman Catholic Church, 87; baptism, 354, 355; on Anglican claims, 

470. 
Rome: elevation of its bishopric, 75; confusion in list, 112. 
Sabbath: the Christian, 371. 
Sacraments: their character, 349; their administration, 354; the 

covenant, a, 393-394; of common worship, 364. 
St. Louis: National Council of 1880, 416. 
Salem: Bible reading in, 367; covenant, 392. 
Salvation: and the church, 109. 
Savages: baptism by, 354. 
Saybrook Platform, 398. 
Saybrook Synod, 398, 461. 
Scribe: of council, 267. 
Scrooby covenant, 20, 21, 392, 395. 
Se-baptism, 355. 

Secretary of National Council, 420. 
Secret meetings: of church, 145. 
Sectarian: denned, 106. 
Simplicity: how the church lost, 74. 
Singing: in public worship, 370. 
Social ideal: and church, 360. 
Society, Ecclesiastical: history, 182; relations to church, 185-187; 

reasons for, 185; powers and limitations, 186; minister and, 189; 

how to abolish, 189. 
Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 441. 
Society for Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education, 

439. 
Speaker: of House of Representatives, need not be a member, 136. 
Sponsors: in baptism, 356. 
Standing: good and regular of church members, 161; ministerial, 

how secured, 227; impaired, 227; lost, 229; in district association, 

227. 
State and church: in Congregationalism, 27-28, 461. 
Substitutes: in National Council, 412, 413. 
Sunday school, 193; pastor's place in, 194; constructive program, 

196; superintendent, 246. 
Supreme Court: on authority in church matters, 132; and Daniel 

Webster, 144. 
Synagogue: and church, 57. 
Syracuse: Council of 1895, 413. 
Teacher: pastor and, 243. 
Temple: and church, 56. 
Termination of pastorate, 251-254. 
Theological Seminaries: may not issue license, 200. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS 495 

Tract Society, 34. 

Treasurer: of church, 177. 

Trials, church: how conducted, 333; professional counsel, 334; in 

absence of offender, 336; of criminal member, 336; of minister, 

338; in private, 346; by council, 347; publication of result, 347. 
Tri-Church Union, 452. 
Trustees: duties of, 178. 
Trustees of National Council, 436, 442. 
Union: Congregational attitude toward, 43; of churches, 124; tri- 

church, 452; current discussions, 466. 
Unitarian churches: polity of, 36. 
United Brethren: proposed union, 452, 471. 

United States: government influenced by Congregationalism, 8-9. 
Unity, Declaration of, 408. 

Universalist churches: polity of, 37; not a sect, 38. 
Usage: and Law, 1. 

Vacancies: in National Council delegations, 412. 
Vacating an office, 179. 
Variety: in Congregationalism, 121. 
Veto: pastoral, 136. 

Vicinage: councils not always from, 262. 
Voluntary society, 110, 151. 
Voting: in church meetings, 113, 147. 
Weathercock: not compass, 1. 
Webster, Daniel: and Supreme Court, 144. 
Widows: as church officers, 176. 
Wig: in Boston pulpit, 367. 

Woman's Home Missionary Federation, 443, 444. 
Women: in church business, 146; as church assistants, 176; church 

organizations of, 194; missionary societies, 195; in the ministry, 

219. 
Women's Societies, 443; W. B. M., 443; W. B. M. I., 443; W. B. 

M. P., 443. 
Worcester: Council of 1889, 418. 
Worship, Public: essential parts, 364, 365. 
Young Men's Christian Association, 192. 
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, 192. 
Young Women's Christian Association, 192. 



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